Power Rangers: Stellar Corps
by Michelle the Editor
Summary: The Crack in the Byzantium's wall may not have led to the end of the universe. Now an army of Weeping Angels is loose in the Power Rangers universe, and former cleric Marco has assembled a team to combat them.
1. Chapter 1: Attack of the Angels

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or Power Rangers.

~oOo~

"Marco, come and look at this." A tall, dark-haired man walked over to the woman at the computer terminal. Brushing her long coppery curls out of his way, he leaned in to see the screen.

"This message just came in from a small freighter," the woman said, typing furiously. The message was staticky and unclear. A young human male stood right in front of the screen. The lights in the room he'd been recording in flickered constantly. He looked exhausted and jumpy, his eyes darting around throughout the message.

"Passing…Cimmerian planet…sensors picked up...weeping…invaded through scanners…crashing…coming!" The screen went black.

Marco and the woman looked at each other solemnly. Standing up straight, Marco issued orders.

"Elandra, call Kinwon and Earth. The Weeping Angels have escaped. Request permission to put Project Stellar Corps into action." Marco began pushing buttons on the wall. He leaned in so the security could scan his retina. The wall slid aside and a drawer popped out. Slowly, Marco drew out two rings, one made of iron, the other of copper. Carved into the setting where a gem would normally have been were two planets. Marco took Elandra's hand, and slid the copper ring onto her middle finger beside her wedding ring. She did the same for him, neither one speaking.

The computer screen crackled again, and Earth's Extraterrestrial Ambassador appeared.

"Former Cleric Marco, you have the Earth's permission to proceed."

"Thank you," Marco said. He turned to Elandra, but she was way ahead of him.

"I put out the word already," she said. Smiling, Marco kissed his wife on the cheek.

"Whatever would I do without you?" He asked.

"Nothing. You wouldn't even have the morphing rings without me," Elandra replied.

~oOo~

Trivia: Elandra's name is based off of C.S. Lewis's name for Venus—Perelandra. And yes, I am aware of Gallifrey's coordinates being the location of a meteor shower in Lost Galaxy, which is probably set at about the time of the Time War anyway. Being a nerd is awesome.


	2. Chapter 2: Dark of the Moon

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or Power Rangers, and my first recruited Ranger belongs to WolfsbaneX—thank you!

~oOo~

Marco turned around as the door whooshed open, and looked over his possible first Ranger. James Rath looked Caucasian, but according to his background he was Hispanic. He wasn't in uniform like everyone else from Area 51, but the navy-blue-and-black outfit wasn't outside regulations. He was also leaning against the doorpost, balancing his laptop in one hand and typing furiously.

"Rath," Marco began, "you want to become a Ranger."

"What of it?" James didn't look at him.

"If I'm going to be your superior officer, look at me when I'm talking to you," Marco said. Hitting the "Save" key, James slammed his laptop shut and looked Marco in the eye.

"I want Lunar powers," he said. "Hacking into minds shouldn't be too different from hacking into computers, which I'm an expert at."

"You know what we're up against?" Marco asked.

"Everything. You need to upgrade your computers," James stated, his expression not changing. Marco stared at him for a second.

"Right," he said. "I'll do that. Take this," Marco said, pulling a box the size of a cigar case out of a pocket on his trenchcoat and opening it. Five rings gleamed there, and Marco selected the silver one.

"Your Zord is the Dolphin," he said, passing it to James.

"I know, it's in the files," James said, sliding the ring onto his right middle finger, and looked back up at Marco. "Seriously, your firewall's less effective than Yahoo Spam Filter." Marco laughed, a short sharp bark that tended to make people jump. Then his computer began pinging.

"Time for your first assignment," Marco said, scrolling through the newly-arrived message. "An Angel-bearing ship has just come around the Moon." Smirking, James shoved his laptop into his black duffel bag and kicked it out of the way.

"What's the morphing call?" He asked, just as Elandra arrived from the other direction.

"Follow my lead," Marco said, twisting the ring on his own finger. "Medieval Planets, descend!" He shouted, raising his fist.

_Marco is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Saturn halts above him, and its silvery light envelops him, solidifying into his Black Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Saturn blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

"Medieval Planets, descend!" Elandra and James echoed.

_Elandra is standing in space, the planets whirling around her. Venus halts above her, and its orange light envelops her, solidifying into her Orange Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Venus blazes out of her chest, and becomes an emblem._

_James is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. The Moon halts above him, and its blue light envelops him, solidifying into his Blue Ranger suit. A ghostly version of the full Moon blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

The three Rangers were in the shuttle and leaving the Satellite Base in seconds. James pulled off his helmet, and looked at it. It was shaped like a dolphin's head, with the visor where the creature's mouth would be. His and Elandra's suits were in their color with black edges, and Marco's had white edging. Her helmet was a swan's head, Marco's a bear.

"Nice," James said, putting his helmet back on. "Let's take care of those Angels."

"Sense them, tell us how many there are," Marco said from the pilot's seat. The small freighter drew closer and closer. James was silent for a minute.

"Three…wait. One's fainter than the others."

"It's still an image," Elandra said. "Is it alone, not near any people?"

"No, it's mixed in with someone else's consciousness. An infectee?" James guessed.

"You got it," Marco said as they docked with the ship. "Draw your Power Weapons. Saturnine Sickle!" The weapon materialized in his gloved hand with a silvery flash.

"Venerean Bow!"

"Lunar Nunchuks!"

"Good. We can only destroy the Angels when they move, which only happens if we can't see them. Plan your shots. The eyes of your helmet are lights, by the way. There's a switch in the back. Let's roll."

The door slid open, and the three Rangers charged into the Angel-infested freighter. The lights were weak and flickery, but their helmet lights illuminated the room. It had been torn apart; wiring and tubes dangled from the ceiling, plates had been torn off the walls and thrown around the room, and not a soul was to be seen.

"Angel to the left," Elandra said, raising her bow. The Weeping Angel was in the pose it had been named for, half-hidden behind a tangle of ripped-out, sparking wires. The ceiling lights finally gave up the ghost, but Elandra's helmet lights were fixed on the Angel, and it didn't move.

"When I give the word, douse the lights," Marco breathed, hefting his Sickle. James flipped his Nunchuks. "Now!" The lights went out, Elandra's bowstring twanged, something flashed orange, and there was a hideous shriek. Flipping the light back on, the three Rangers watched as the Weeping Angel, now frozen in a snarl, collapsed into grey dust.

"Not that hard," James said, as they went deeper into the ship.

"If we'd been half a second off, it would probably have killed us," Marco said.

"But we weren't. Angel coming up around the next corner," James said. "Also three people in the room beyond. One's the infected guy."

"My turn," Marco said, whirling his Sickle, flicking off his lights and going around the corner. He swung his sickle, felt it connect, and there was a stony thud. When the others got there, Marco was standing over another heap of dust. He wiped a few flecks off his Saturnine Sickle.

"Hey!" James called into the room, ducking through the half-open doors. Marco and Elandra followed, hearing the three survivors' cries of surprise and relief. "Okay, look at me," they heard the Blue Ranger say. Elandra ran over to the other two, a pair of men, and touched the latter one's forehead. His injuries healed in a coppery glow, and Elandra moved on to the other. James was kneeling next to a woman, holding her head with both hands.

"Okay, blink," he said. She did, and James's hands glowed blue for that split second. The woman let out a long breath, and James stepped back, rubbing his hands.

"I'll go find the last Weeping Angel," Marco said.

"Right. It's in Engineering, feeding off the main power core," James said, helping the woman to her feet. Marco went off, his spirits high. So far, Project Stellar Corps was going beautifully.

~oOo~

Trivia: Marco's Zord is the only one that doesn't technically fit with the medieval planets theme, however I thought a Goat Zord would be too silly for him.


	3. Chapter 3: By Jove!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or Doctor Who. It'd be impossible anyway: both shows are older than I am, by four months and thirty years respectively. James belongs to WolfsbaneX and the new Ranger to SSJ-Jolt—thank you guys so much for letting me play with them!

~oOo~

"And I'm saying it's a bad idea, Marco—"

"This is a military operation, Elandra, I don't see—"

"Going by the only Ranger we have so far, even if you create uniforms, they won't get worn," Elandra said, crossing her arms. Marco sighed deeply.

"Several of the previous Ranger teams have had uniforms," he said, "especially the ones without secret identities."

"Marco, it isn't going to happen. This is a temporary operation," Elandra replied. A cough from the doorway interrupted the argument, and the couple turned around.

A tall, brown-haired young man stood in the doorway, watching them with his hands in his pockets. Elandra flicked her curls out of her face, took in the stubbly chin, croc vest and cork-festooned akubra hat, and gave her husband a "see?" look.

"You're Rex Uluru," Marco said, stepping forward. Rex stood up and shook Marco's hand. The leather fingerless gloves were softened with wear, and his grip was firm.

"I don't really mind uniforms, but could you give mine a three-legged phoenix or something?" Rex asked. His accent confirmed the Aussie-ness his outfit declared.

"Which powers do you want?" Marco asked.

"Red," Rex said.

"Then would an eagle suffice?"

"Sure, as long as I can pick up chicks in it," Rex replied, grinning widely. Marco gave him a long, hard stare, but at a glance from his wife he shrugged and went to the ring box. Rex caught the ring, and frowned at it.

"Tin?" He asked, tossing the ring up and down.

"Traditionally associated with Jupiter, used to be more valued before people started making it into cans," Elandra said, as she put the case away. Rex put the ring on his right index finger, saying a rather rude word. Whirling around, Elandra smacked him across the cheek. Rex jumped, looking startled.

"Keep a civil tongue in your head on this base, young man. You're a Power Ranger now, and we've got no secret identities to hide behind," Elandra said. Rubbing his cheek, Rex nodded, still looking slightly shellshocked. "Have you met James yet?" The redhead went on, just as pleasantly as before.

"Um, no," Rex said.

"He should be here any minute," Marco said, still looking pretty pleased at winning the uniforms argument. Sure enough, the Blue Ranger came in from the opposite door. He began to ask why he'd been called, but saw Rex.

"Another Ranger?" Rex nodded. James shook his hand. "James Rath, Blue Ranger," he said.

"I noticed," Rex said, looking at James's mostly-blue clothes. "You guys were in the news. 'New Power Rangers To Face Angel Threat,'" he said in a TV news anchor voice. Then the alarm, a set of blue lights spaced around the walls at shoulder height, began flashing and beeping.

"Ready to kick some Angel butt?" Rex asked, just as Elandra smacked him again. "Ow! Other Rangers talked like that!"

"Not on this ship," Elandra said, "besides, I knew what you wanted to say." Sighing, Rex lined up with the other three.

"Medieval Planets, Descend!" They shouted in unison.

_Rex is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Jupiter halts above him, and its reddish light envelops him, solidifying into his Red Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Jupiter blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

_Marco is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Saturn halts above him, and its silvery light envelops him, solidifying into his Black Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Saturn blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

_Elandra is standing in space, the planets whirling around her. Venus halts above her, and its orange light envelops her, solidifying into her Orange Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Venus blazes out of her chest, and becomes an emblem._

_James is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. The Moon halts above him, and its blue light envelops him, solidifying into his Blue Ranger suit. A ghostly version of the full Moon blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

"You have super strength," Marco said as they ran to the shuttle bay.

"Right," Rex said, "how exactly does that help against the Angels?"

"They have it too. They're made of rock, remember?" James said as they clambered into the shuttle.

"Technically they're only made of rock when we can see them," Elandra said, closing the hatch behind her. "But yes, Weeping Angels are super-strong."

"What exactly is the problem?" James addressed Marco, who was driving again.

"A Weeping-Angel possessed ship is entering Mirinoi's atmosphere," the Black Ranger said, not looking over his shoulder. "It's heading for Terra Venture."

"Can we go faster?" Rex asked.

"As soon as you buckle up," Marco said. They did as quickly as possible, and then Marco pulled a lever on the roof. The shuttle zoomed into teleportation-speed, and when it stopped, they were next to Mirinoi. Even out in space, they could see what had been the main dome of Terra Venture gleaming through the treetops.

"Where's the—oh, there's the ship," James said, and pointed at a wide dark smudge coming between them and the planet. He sat back, and after a second reported that there were no people on the ship, just Angels. Then the ship opened fire. The shuttle swerved, just barely avoiding the green lasers.

"We can't fight them with this," Rex exclaimed.

"Summon your Zords," Marco said, diving under the incoming ship.

"We need Stellar Zord power, now!" Rex, Elandra and James shouted. Outside the shuttle, with three brightly colored flashes, their Zords appeared. Rex's Eagle dropped down and caught the shuttle in its claws.

"Jingoes is that thing huge!" Rex shouted, and Elandra smacked him upside the helmet. "Right, whatever, I'm going in!" Rex zoomed up into the Zord with a red flash. Elandra and James followed, and their Swan and Dolphin Zords leaped into battle. The Eagle let go and went after them, red lights blasting out of its eyes. Marco's Bear appeared a split second after, and roared despite being in space.

"Guys, you don't have to fight on the same plane as him," James said, bringing his Dolphin in from the ten o'clock position with guns blazing. Both he and Rex's fire hit the ship at the same time, and it rocked violently.

"What can we do Megazord-wise?" Rex asked.

"Any two Zords can combine," Marco said, to overjoyed whoops from the other two guys.

"Let's try it, then!" Rex yelled. "Jovian and Lunar Zords, combine!"

"Saturnine and Venerian Zords, combine!" Marcus replied.

_The Eagle Zord's wings slide forward and fold up, becoming arms. The Dolphin's tail splits into legs, and its body becomes the torso. The Eagle's head comes on top, and slides up to reveal a humanoid face. A giant saber whose hilt is a set of nunchuks appears in its hand, and the Megazord strikes a pose._

"Superior Lunar Conjunction Megazord!"

_The Bear swings upright, his legs becoming the Megazord's legs. His forelegs unfold to become arms, and the Swan comes down behind him. Its head covers his, and comes up to reveal a humanoid silver face. The wings remain wings, and the tail folds around its waist. A giant bow whose outer edge is a sickle blade appears in the Megazord's hand, and it strikes a pose._

"Infernal Conjunction Megazord!"

Then, a new voice crackled on Marco's radio.

"What are you doing?" Marco leaned in.

"James, you said there weren't any people left on the ship," he said.

"There aren't," James retorted, "this guy must be on the planet."

"I was the captain of this ship," the voice continued, "the Angels killed me. They're using my voice to talk to you because they don't have voices of their own. They're confused."

"We are going to blow up your ship with our giant robots. What is there not to understand?" Rex asked.

"You won't destroy the Angels that way."

"We'll try it anyway, and see what happens," Marco said. "Rex, James, let's try our finishing moves."

"Right! Mega Power Sword, final blow!"

"Mega Power Sickle!" With loud hi-yas, the Rangers struck both ends of the spaceship. It erupted into explosions, and waves of violet and red light washed over the hull.

"Like that, Angel Captain?" Rex shouted. The only reply was the rest of the ship blowing apart.

~oOo~

Trivia: Jove is a name for the Roman god Jupiter (whom we named the planet after), Zeus in Greece.


	4. Chapter 4: Rise of the Alchemist, Part 1

Disclaimer: Don't own Power Rangers, don't own Doctor Who.

~oOo~

Elandra and James were in the workshop, her assembling the uniforms Marco had finished designing, he figuring out every detail of the Zords with the computer. He already knew the station's systems as well as Marco, though. He turned around as Elandra set down a finished uniform.

"You made the morphers too, right?" He said.

"I usually do the assembly," Elandra said, folding the pants in half. "Marco's very good at coming up with ideas, but making them three-dimensional is my speciality. So, does it pass the 'pick up chicks' test?" She held it up, and James swiveled in his chair to see.

The uniform was mostly black, with one front panel that buttoned at the right side, with black pants and boots. The Ranger's color striped up the sides of the pants, and at the cuffs and collar. The planet symbol was small, silver and on the upper left, and the Ranger's animal covered the back. James nodded in approval, and turned back to his computer.

"Good. Here's yours," Elandra said, tossing an already-folded bundle at the Blue Ranger. James spun his chair in a full circle, caught it halfway and looked slightly surprised that he'd succeeded. Then the alarms went off, and Marco's voice came over the station's speakers.

"Get to the hangar, we've got a mission on Earth."

"Coming," Elandra said, jumping up and dusting the bits of cloth and thread off her clothes. James was right behind her.

"Medieval Planets, descend!"

They met the others, also morphed, at the shuttle bay, Marco arriving almost thirty seconds after the rest.

"Believe it or not, we actually have a monster to fight," Marco said, "so we're taking the Zords. We also have a new recruit to pick up, a Tony Kniekamp."

"Great!" Rex said, and jumped into the Eagle Zord. The cockpit was small, with controls on three sides and a ringed planet symbol on the back. The bay doors opened, and the four Zords flew out into space. They sped away from the silvery top-shaped base and towards Earth, just a blue smudge in the distance, but their Zords were fast.

"Marco, I've been studying the Zord plans," James said, "how many combinations can we not make?"

"Black and Pink are incompatible," Marco said, and paused to think. "Black and Yellow, Orange and Blue, Green and Blue."

"How big will that be?" Rex asked.

"Take a guess," Marco said. "Earth coming up. Follow me in."

"America, of course," Rex said, as they zoomed in on the country. "Why don't the monsters ever attack Uzbekistan?"

"They don't speak Uzbek," James suggested, "so nobody would understand their terrible jokes?"

"Very likely," Elandra said, as they swung towards nighttime Angel Grove. "Though I wonder why the target is California so often."

"It's big and impressive," Marco said, "though where I come from, England is the main target. Cybermen, Daleks, rogue Time Lords, hundreds of invaders."

"You haven't told us what all of those things are yet," James said. They came down over the city, and hovered for a moment as Marco looked around.

"Later. There's our monster," he said, and charged to the northeast. Within seconds the creature came into sight, an enormous mummy, with only a fanged slit of a mouth and two black eyes showing through the bandages. It was engaged in shooting strips of bandage from its hands, wrapping them around abandoned warehouses and pulling them down, laughing the whole time.

"Elandra, James, go look for people on the ground," Marco said, "Rex and I will handle this guy."

"Right," Elandra said, zooming down into the city, James on her tail.

_ The Bear Zord swings upright, its lower legs unfolding into the Megazord's legs. Its forelegs become arms, and the Eagle lands atop its body. The Eagle's wings stay out, and its tail wraps around the Megazord's waist. Its head slides up to reveal a humanoid face. Its weapon, a sword whose hilt become a sickle, materializes in its hand, and it strikes a pose._

_ "Superior Conjunction Megazord!"_

"About time you guys showed up, this was starting to get old!" The monster yelled, pulling over one last building with a crash.

"Megablade, Spin attack!" Rex shouted. The Megazord whirled the weapon and charged. Yelling, the mummy lurched back, sparking wherever they hit him.

"I'm not done with you yet," he growled, and raising a hand, he tangled the Zord's right arm with his bandages. The Megazord twisted away, but couldn't break free. Marco threw a lever, and ice formed over their trapped arm, freezing the bindings. With one quick jerk, the Megazord shattered the restraint and turned back to the mummy.

"Is that all?" Rex asked. In answer, the mummy opened his mouth and breathed a black cloud over the Megazord. "I had to ask," Rex said, as the Megazord tried to clear the fog out of its face. Then something slammed into its side, and the robot swayed off balance. Through the darkness, the Rangers could hear the mummy laughing as he came around from behind and hit them again.

~oOo~

Down in the city, the police were in the midst of evacuations when the Rangers showed up. Cars went in every direction away from the monster, and the policemen were trying to calm down the people just as the Zords landed. Elandra and James ran out, and the police chief met them. He was battered, but calm.

"Rangers, we're trying to get these people to the station so we can get a proper head count," he said. A streetlamp overhead sparked and died, leaving them in near-darkness.

"How many people can we fit into the Zords?" Elandra asked James. Another explosion went off, followed by screaming from various citizens.

"Twenty per Zord," he said, "Let's go." Elandra ran over to the ambulance and started healing people, and James and the police began helping people into the Zords. The presence of Power Rangers calmed most of them down, and they climbed into the Zords obediently. Some were even excited, though for some reason a few of the people threw numbers into their sentences. James had almost finished, when he heard a woman shout.

"Weeping Angels!" She screamed, backing into one of the only working street lights. It flickered, and sure enough, a Weeping Angel stood just outside the circle of light. James somersaulted down from the Dolphin Zord and charged, drawing his Lunar Nunchuks as he went. Elandra came from the other direction, running up a pile of debris and shooting down at the Angel as she leaped over its head. James did a flip, landing on the Angel's shoulders and slamming his Nunchuks into its head as the light went out for good. The Angel went down, James landing neatly on his feet as it crumbled into dust.

Panting, James looked over to the woman who'd first seen it. She was fiddling with her red hair, on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

"Where did the Angel come from?" James asked.

"It came out of him," she said, pointing over James's shoulder. He turned, and saw a man lying flat on the ground, eyes wide and staring. Elandra bent over the body and scanned him.

"He's dead," she said, turning back to James. "But no wounds. He must have been infected." A realization struck James, just as another explosion took out a nearby skyscraper. He smacked his forehead—well, the front of his helmet.

"The monster is a diversion! The Angels have infected a bunch of people and set them loose in Angel Grove!" He sprinted to the nearest police car, leaped inside and pulled out the radio. "Attention all police units. There are an unknown number of Angel infectees in your custody. If anyone shows any of the following symptoms, have them shut their eyes and separate them from the others until the Rangers can get to them: counting down, thinking part of their body has petrified, or having a lot of blackish dust in their eyes. Also stay calm; the Angels are stuck when you shut your eyes. Over and out."

There was an enormous crash, and a fireball lit up the sky. The monster had knocked the Megazord down, taking out another warehouse. The sky was full of smoke now, blotting out the moon. James climbed out of the police car and looked over at Elandra.

"Our Zords are full of people," he said. "What do we do?" Silently, Elandra passed a no-longer-injured boy to a policeman.

"I have no idea," she said at last. "You're the child genius, you come up with something." The Megazord struggled back to its feet, still sparking in a few places.

"Drop off the people as fast as we can," James said, and ran to the Zords, Elandra following. They were at the police station when the communicators in their Zords went off. It was Rex.

"You guys can join the fight whenever you want," he said.

"We've been using our Zords for evacuations," Elandra replied. "We're almost finished."

"Elandra, our new recruit is at the NASADA base," Marco said, "I'm sending you the ring. James will come back here and help us out, you pick up Tony."

"Not to eavesdrop or anything, but I'm not at NASADA," a new voice cut in. Elandra jumped, and spun around to see a lanky, dark-blond-haired young man standing behind her. He looked like he'd been at the warehouse district, from the soot, dust and battered clothes.

"Sorry, I couldn't just sit in the base when I could help out here," he said, coming in. Elandra stood up, taking off her helmet, and shook Tony's hand. The Dolphin Zord took off outside, heading back for the battle.

"Nothing to be sorry about," she said, "Green Ranger." There was a flash from her console, and Elandra turned around to pick up the sandstone ring from the mini-teleporter. Grinning, Tony slid the ring on, and raised his right fist.

"Medieval Planets, descend!"

_ Tony is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Mars halts above him, and an emerald light envelops him, solidifying into his Green Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Mars blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

"Now this is more like it," Tony said, looking over the suit. "Now, you guys needed another Megazord?"

"Summon the Wolf Zord," Elandra said. Tony did, teleporting into it with a green flash.

_ The Wolf Zord leaps into the air, and its limbs flip around and become legs, reattaching to the body. The Swan Zord's body splits in half and becomes the arms, the tail becoming spiky shoulderpads. Its head and wings settle on the back, and the Wolf's head opens to reveal a humanoid face. A combined bow and lance materializes in its right hand._

_ "Fiery Conjunction Megazord!"_

~oOo~

Trivia: Originally, before I was recruiting Rangers, the lineup had three girls including Elandra-whose name was first Adelle, then Helen. Blue was Morgan, Pink Bonnie, Black Horatio, Red Cedric, Green Jack, and Yellow Scott. I decided to recruit because I was struggling with coming up with seven interesting characters, and I have never regretted the decision.


	5. Chapter 5: Rise of the Alchemist, Part 2

Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the title, theme and weapons. Oh, and Elandra.

~oOo~

The Superior Conjunction Megazord was down, with the Dolphin Zord keeping the mummy monster busy with aerial attacks. The second Megazord landed behind the monster with a boom, and the mummy turned, ducking a shot from James. Tony looked at Elandra, sitting in the cockpit beside him. The air smelled a little stale, like artificially induced cinnamon and pine scent.

"This is neat, but how do we make it move?" He asked. The Mummy managed to lasso the Dolphin Zord and slam it into another skyscraper with a wincing crash.

"I'm okay," James said over the radio, sounding a little fuzzy.

"Just go with instinct," Elandra advised, "it comes with being a Ranger." Tony flexed his fingers, and moved some levers. The Zord twirled its Lance, and Tony wondered if never having your visort fog up also came with being a Ranger.

"What, another giant action figure? As if that'll make this any harder," the monster shouted, shooting bandages at the green-and-orange Megazord. The Zord whirled the Mega Lance, batting the bindings aside with ease. They tangled up in the remnants of a wrecked building, and burned away into nothing. Then the Superior Conjunction Megazord grabbed the mummy, pinning its arms to its sides. The monster bucked and squirmed, but couldn't break free.

"Take a shot, guys!" Rex shouted. The other Megazord raised its bow and fired a volley of orange shots into the mummy. Howling, the monster wrenched itself free, took one wobbly step, and exploded. Tony and Elandra could feel the burst of heat right through the Megazord, and bits of the monster clanged on its hull.

"Great, now I've got some Weeping Angels to get rid of," James said, zooming off to the police station again. The two Megazords jumped into the air and began disassembling, as the smoke from the battle blew away. Landing on the ground again, the four Rangers climbed out of their Zords, and gathered amidst the piles of brick and concrete. Five buildings had been razed to the ground, and ten more were halfway gone and still collapsing.

"Welcome to the team, Tony," Marco said, shaking the Green Ranger's hand.

"Thanks sir, but can we wait until after everything's been put back to rights?" Tony asked. Nodding, Marco raised a hand, and his ring glowed silver. The nearest fire went out with a hiss, as did the one beside it, and so on as Marco turned in a full circle.

"You two come with me, we'll find anyone else who needs rescuing," Elandra said to the teens, and the three ran off. They looped around heaps of debris and hopped over cracks in the pavement until they reached the ruins of a warehouse. Rex found where the stairs had been, and had it cleared in seconds. The three jumped down into the darkness, turning on their helmet lights.

"Who's there?" A man shouted, as the three landed one after the other. Their boots crunched on bits of broken glass and drywall. A lightbulb in the ceiling flickered, briefly revealing four people huddled in the corner. In the center of the room, pointing at the dying light, stood three Weeping Angels.

"Power Sword!" Rex exclaimed, drawing the weapon with a scarlet flash. Tony and Elandra followed suit.

"Power Lance!" There were three bodies on the floor, at the feet of the Angels.

"Power Bow!" In the blinks of darkness the Angels turned to face the Rangers. The creatures snarled silently, reaching out for the newcomers. Elandra fired from where she was, and the Green and Red Rangers charged into battle. Stone grated, lights flashed, and hi-yas broke the air, and within two minutes it was all over.

The lighbulb gained new power, and illuminated the room to reveal three heaps of stony dust, and three out-of-breath Power Rangers standing over them. The four civilians let out mixed cries and sobs of relief, and Elandra hurried over to them.

"I'll go look for more Angels," Tony said, and climbed up what was left of the stairs. Looking around, Rex saw something in the corner, and darted over.

"Hey!" Elandra spun around in time to see him help up a man in his early twenties, who kept his eyes shut tight and felt his way up by the wall. Standing, he pushed his long brown hair out of his face.

"You guys are the Power Rangers?" He asked.

"No, we're the A-Team, fool," Elandra replied, healing a black woman dressed as a secretary and moving on to the last man.

"Sure, right," the stranger said with a shaky laugh, fumbling in his pocket. He pulled out a small disc, and held it out in Rex's general direction. The Red Ranger took it, and looked it over. "Last night me and a bunch of other people got kidnapped and infected with Angels. This mad scientist guy, I think the Angels were taking orders from him, gave me this and told me to give it to you." Marco arrived as the young man finished talking, and came closer, scrutinizing him.

"Kaiden Hart?" He asked.

"Yes?" The young man replied, turning his head towards the Black Ranger. Marco demorphed, looking surprised and pleased.

"We received your application this morning. Once James has gotten rid of the Angel, you'll get the Solar Powers." Kaiden's face lit up with a huge grin. Elandra started helping the people out of the basement, Marco following, still looking at the disc.

~oOo~

Kaiden sat in a chair against the station wall, wishing for his ipod. Tony had taken Kaiden back to the station, and gone back to the battle site to continue helping. The room was very quiet, with only the occasional rustle of someone changing position, and breathing all around. The air smelled like artifical pine scent, soot and concrete dust, with a tinge of blood, and it was hot and stale from all the people close together.

"Hey," the future Yellow Ranger said, "anyone else here?"

"Who's talking?" A deep bass voice replied from his left.

"Kaiden Hart," Kaiden replied, "you've got an Angel too?"

"Richard Allen," the man replied, "and yes, that's why I'm here. Does anyone remember what happened last night?" There was a chorus of quiet no's. The thought that speaking would make the Angels stronger hovered over the group.

"I do," Kaiden said, "we got picked up by a mad scientist, remember? Big screen with a Weeping Angel on the other side? No?" Nobody else did. "Okay, then. How many of us are there? I'm one, and you're two, Mr. Allen. Others say a number, and we'll work it out." Timidly, people called out numbers, and eventually they all figured out that there were twenty-three Angel infectees, just as the Rangers came back.

Kaiden listened as James gently instructed person after person, and saw the blue flash through his eyelids. He shuddered, and wondered if that was the Angel being scared. Then he heard footsteps, and the scrape of chair legs on the linoleum floor.

"Okay, Kaiden, just do exactly as I say, and this won't even hurt," James said, sitting across from him.

"Why does everybody say that?" Kaiden replied, leaning forward, "they're always lying."

"The Angel isn't even physical, it can't hurt," James said, "I just say that because everybody gets nervous around this point." Kaiden shrugged, and flinched as James's gloved hands touched the sides of his head. "Open your eyes. I need to find the Angel first." Kaiden did. The Blue Ranger looked greenish, and the fluorescent lights didn't help. Weirdly, Kaiden could almost see James behind his eyes, morphed and walking around somewhere dark.

"Hey, I can see you in my head, is that normal?" Kaiden asked.

"Yes," James said, "can't talk now. Don't blink. Wink one at a time if you have to." The next few seconds were tense and eye-watering for Kaiden. Each wink dimmed his mental vision briefly. He realized he was holding his breath, and let it out. Then, the James in his mind stopped. Kaiden's view swung around 180 degrees, and he saw a ghostly Weeping Angel standing there, hands covering its face.

"Found him," James said telepathically, raising his Nunchuks. "Her. Whatever. Okay, when I give the word, blink once." Kaiden held his breath again, and realized his hands were sweating as they gripped the sides of his chair. "Blink." Kaiden's mental eye blacked out for barely a second, and James struck. A shudder ran down Kaiden's spine, and inside his head he heard the Weeping Angel scream as it disintegrated.

James let go of Kaiden's head and stood up, moving on to the next infectee. Marco came over as Kaiden stood shakily, and held out a simple gold ring. Kaiden snatched it out of his hand, sliding it onto his left index finger, and twisted it around a few times.

"Sweet, what powers do I get?" He asked, staring at the light playing over the gold.

"Fire control," Marco replied, "your Zord is the Lion."

"That makes me the…how many Lion Rangers have there been?" Kaiden asked.

"I don't know," Marco replied, his face stern. "You'll have to check the records."

~oOo~

On the Satellite Base, Kaiden had been discovering exactly how much of the base was fireproof, and how patient his fellow Rangers were. The answers were everything important, fortunately, and not as much as they needed.

"Will you just calm down and stop trying to cook us?" Rex snapped, ducking as Kaiden fired another blast of flame over his head. He was sitting at a table, watching an anime on his laptop. Kaiden stood in the middle of the room, trying to get as many of the chairs—bolted to the floor, like all the furniture on the base—to spin simultaneously as he could, without lighting the seat cushions on fire. He wasn't doing well. Tony was absorbed in a book in the corner, and probably ignoring the others on purpose. Whenever a blast of flame got near him, he held up a glowing green hand and deflected it.

"Hey, chill, I'm not exactly sure how this works yet," Kaiden replied.

"Oh, that's encouraging," James muttered from the computer. Marco entered the room, looked around at the scorch marks, and then at Kaiden, who reddened. Hearing the door hiss shut, Tony closed his book with a thump, realizing too late that he'd forgotten to mark his place.

"We have a simulation deck for a reason," Marco said, and strode over to the computer. "We need to see what's on this disc." He popped it into the drive, and Elandra came in, glanced around, and whispered into Kaiden's ear.

"Don't sweat it; I could barely get the heat working for days when Marco was first testing his ring." That brightened Kaiden up, just as Marco stepped back, and the screen switched to an elderly man. Marco grabbed a chair and sat down in it backwards, and Elandra hopped up onto the table. "You're still going to have to clean up after yourself, though," she added, and Kaiden winced.

The man on the screen was balding, with straight white hair and wrinkles, but the most noticeable things about him were his eyes. They were a bright, almost unnatural blue, and between them and the bushy, low eyebrows, the man looked as if he might start cackling madly and shooting things at any second. He cleared his throat, and spoke.

"Stellar Corps," he said, in a cultured British accent, "your receiving this message means my messenger was intelligent enough to listen to me and keep his eyes shut, and you have another Ranger. You can call me the Alchemist, and I intend to conquer or destroy the Earth."

"At least he's honest," Kaiden commented. The others shushed him.

"The Angels follow my orders, and they are just the beginning. This is an ultimatum: stay out of my way, and I'll leave you alone. Try to stop me, and I will show you no mercy." The message went black, and James popped the disc back out. Nobody said anything for about a minute.

"So," Tony broke in, "should we go park closer to Earth? I mean, if it's the Alchemist's main target."

"Good idea," Marco replied, rising and pushing the chair away. "We'll be accelerating, so go find seats with seatbelts. You have about ten minutes."

"How many Angels exactly did we destroy?" James asked. "I'm trying to keep a record."

"Well, there were the three in the first basement," Rex began, folding his laptop shut with a snap.

"Plus the twenty-three James had to take out," Kaiden chimed in dropping into a seat and buckling up, and soon all the Rangers were running through their past battles. They barely noticed the engines come on with a rumble, but the station's jerk into movement interrupted the conversation.

~oOo~

Trivia: The Alchemist used to be called The Doctor, then the Cyberwizard, then back to the Doctor again, before I'd settled on the name. As to what exactly he was...that took a bit longer.


	6. Chapter 6: Out of Time, Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or Doctor Who.

A/N: Character recruitment is closed! Thank you WolfsbaneX, SSJ-Jolt, Gmoney22, and Rye Lee, your submissions are awesome!

~oOo~

It was early morning over Earth—specifically, the middle of North America—and the Satellite Base was rotating quietly. The four cylindrical engines were on impulse power, thrumming softly all the way through the saucer-shaped station. In the top deck—the control center—was Marco, the only awake Power Ranger. Sitting at one of the wraparound control panels, he stared out at the rising sun through a window panel. It was eerily quiet, except for the quiet beeping of various machines. The air was only slightly stale, and the fans kicked in every few minutes, sending a chill breeze around the room.

Then, the Angel scanner activated, and Marco jumped. Buttoning up his uniform jacket, he turned to the screen, and focused it. It zoomed in on the United States, and then the southeast. Sighing, Marco hit another button on the dashboard.

"Computer, are any of the other Rangers awake?"

"Ranger Green has been conscious since 0430 hours," a robotic woman's voice replied.

"Good, send him to the bridge," Marco said, twiddling the scanner's knobs. Tony dashed in a few minutes later, still buckling his belt. Not turning around, Marco gestured for him to come closer.

"See those?" He asked, pointing to five blinking red spots on the scanner. "Weeping Angels, five of them. No idea how they got there, but they're in a college town in North Carolina. Come on."

"Just us, sir?" Tony asked as Marco leaped out of his chair and headed towards the elevator.

"Just us," Marco replied, as the Green Ranger hurried to catch up to him. "There's only five, after all, and now there are enough of us to divide our forces in case something else happens. Now we've got a specific enemy, and he might have plans." Nodding, Tony stepped back as the elevator doors closed, and folded his arms.

"They won't know what hit them," he said, and grinned at Marco.

"That's the spirit," Marco replied, as the doors opened on the hangar bay. "We're taking the Zords. Medieval Planets, descend!"

_Marco is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Saturn halts above him, and its silvery light envelops him, solidifying into his Black Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Saturn blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

Marco charged over to his Bear Zord, and Tony flexed his fingers.

"Medieval Planets, descend!"

_Tony is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Mars halts above him, and an emerald light envelops him, solidifying into his Green Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Mars blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

~oOo~

The trip was quick and quiet, though the trip through the atmosphere heated the outsides of both Zords to egg-frying temperatures. The Zords touched down in an empty parking lot, and Tony and Marco climbed out. The Black Ranger held a small black scanner, and turned in a slow circle. Tony looked around, and shivered a little. It was a cloudy midmorning, chill and deathly quiet except for Marco's bleeping device. A very slight breeze brushed the little trees planted around the lot.

"That way," Marco said, pointing towards the mall. "I'll go in the front, you find a back entrance. Keep your guard up and your radio on." Tony nodded and took off at a run. Marco sprinted to the door, still scanning for Angels. The machine bleeped faster and faster as he drew close to the building. Pausing, he looked around a concrete pillar and through the darkened glass doors. He flicked his helmet lights on, and looked again. There, half-hidden behind a rack of clothes, he saw a stone wing.

Marco flicked off the scanner, and drew his scythe with a whisper. He came forward as quietly as he could and pulled the unlocked door open. The Angel had moved, further into the store and out of sight. Throwing a quick look around the room, Marco kept towards the place he'd last seen it.

From deeper in the store, the Black Ranger heard a cry, which ended before he'd even comprehended it. It hadn't sounded like Tony, though, and Marco kept his attention on the Angel in the room. Rounding a corner, Marco nearly ran into the Weeping Angel, and jumped back. It was turned towards the Black Ranger, but covered its face. Just as Marco asked himself why it was doing that, something icy and hard struck his shoulder.

Marco sat down hard, panting, and blinked in the bright sunlight—wait, sunlight? A series of quick shadows passed across his vision with a rustle.

"Power Down," he said, and his suit disappeared. Marco looked around as he caught his breath. He was no longer in the mall. He was sitting in thick grass, under the shade of an elm tree, in blazing July sunlight. A wide, child-filled park surrounded him, though nobody had noticed him demorph. Well, almost nobody.

Turning around, Marco met the eye of a rather pudgy tweenaged boy. The kid didn't look very surprised to see a grown man in a strange uniform appear out of thin air. Actually, he was slightly annoyed. The Black Ranger stood up, brushing the grass off his uniform, and grinned at the boy.

"Hello," he said, but the boy interrupted him.

"Before you ask, you're in Angel Grove Park, and it's 1974," the boy replied. "Do you know what's going on? Three other people have popped up out of nowhere right here, and they aren't making any sense." Marco made a fist, and punched his other hand.

"I should have known," he said, "an Angel trap. Where are the others?"

"Over there, on the bench," the boy replied, pointing to Marco's right. "My Mom's trying to calm them down. What's an Angel trap?"

"It's complicated," Marco snapped, and added in a gentler voice, "Thank you…"

"Ernie," the boy filled in, grinning, "Will anybody else be popping up here?"

"I don't know," Marco replied, "keep an eye out."

~oOo~

Tony hid behind the base of a stopped escalator, and tried to calm his breathing. Dim, grey light poured through the skylights, barely illuminating the place. A fountain gurgled to itself in the middle of the plaza, and the splashing echoed around the wide room.

Then someone screamed, and Tony jumped, spinning around to see a Weeping Angel, hands outstretched, standing at the upper level's railing. Tony glanced around, but saw no others in the shadows. Taking a deep breath, he began climbing the escalator as quickly as he could, glancing at the Angel constantly. It moved further and further away as he approached, and Tony began to feel more confident.

Swinging around the corner, Tony spun his Lance and charged the Angel. Snapping his eyes shut at the last second, the Green Ranger struck, and grinned at Weeping Angel's ear-piercing shriek as it disintegrated. Straightening, he looked around the store, full of adrenaline and ready for the other Angels. Then he heard soft crying coming from one of the dark stores behind him.

"Hey, is someone there?" Tony called, and started a little at how loud he sounded. The crying stopped, and the Green Ranger walked into the store. It was almost pitch-black, and full of racks of clothing. Gently, Tony pushed the hoodies and pants aside, looking for the source of the crying. Now he could hear another voice, a girl's, whispering to the crying one.

He stepped around behind the counter, and found two young women huddled underneath. The whispering girl was a pretty blonde dressed as a waitress, who looked up at him and tapped her brunette companion's shoulder. The other stopped sniffling as she saw the Power Ranger, and stood up shakily.

"We heard the screaming and hid in here," the blonde explained, rising and pushing her loose curls out of her face. "What's going on?"

"There are at least four Weeping Angels in the building," Tony replied, "you'd better hide again."

"I think we're safer with you, actually," the girl replied, taking her friend by the hand.

"Good point," Tony replied, and hefted his lance. "Stay close and if we see an Angel don't even blink unless I tell you to." Both women nodded, and the trio walked back into the plaza.

~oOo~

Trivia: In the (nonexistent-PM if you'd like to rectify this) Sentai version of this story, Suta-Butai Wakuseiger, the Weeping Angels were an army of cursed souls who could actually turn people into Angels, and had no time-traveling ability. Wakusei Black's fight with them heavily involved him trying to rescue some half-transformed prisoners, which is why this version is so much shorter.


	7. Chapter 7: Out of Time, Part 2

Disclaimer: Power Rangers and Doctor Who are not mine. Just playing in a wonderful playground here.

~oOo~

"What on Earth possessed him to do something so stupid?" Elandra cried, staring at the still-blinking monitor. Red-eyed, the other Rangers hovered behind her.

"Now what?" Rex asked. "Do you guys have a plan for this?" Dropping into the chair with a thump, Elandra nodded.

"James, go get the thing over there," she said, gesturing to her left.

"What?" The Blue Ranger asked, rubbing one eye. Spinning her chair around, Elandra fixed him with a gimlet stare.

"The Kronos Cube," she enunciated, and smacked the monitor off.

"Learn to use nouns, would you?" James muttered, going to one of the under-console drawers. Still irritated, he punched in a code, and the drawer slid open. Rex and Kaiden exchanged glances and sat down, as James drew out a data disc, followed by what looked like a partially disassembled Rubik Cube in a plastic bag. Plunking down in the middle of the floor, James began fitting the pieces on the cube. Rex cleared his throat.

"Er, how long is this going to take? Shouldn't we be helping Tony with those other four Angels?" He asked.

"You two go ahead, I'll help Blue Ranger finish the Cube," Elandra said, as she sat down across from James, crossed her legs neatly, and pulled the bag over.

"Okay," Rex said, standing. Kaiden followed suit, grabbing a handful of his long brown hair and tying it back with a rubber band. "Medieval Planets, Descend!"

_Rex is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Jupiter halts above him, and its reddish light envelops him, solidifying into his Red Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Jupiter blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

_Kaiden is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Sol halts above him, and its golden light envelops him, solidifying into his Yellow Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Sol blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

The Zords were closing in on Earth when something struck the side of the Lion, knocking him off course. Quickly regaining control, Kaiden swung around to see what had hit him, and let out a yell of surprise.

"Rex, a Zord!" He shouted, pointing even though the Red Ranger couldn't see it. The Eagle Zord about-faced, and Rex leaned forward to see.

There, hovering roughly over Florida, was a humanoid Zord. It wore red armor shot through with black lightning bolts, and two huge bat wings spread from its shoulders. Lowering its crossbow, it flew closer to the two Zords.

"Who are you?" Rex shouted into the radio. The stranger didn't answer, only raising the crossbow and taking a shot directly between the Eagle Zord's eyes. Ducking, the Eagle Zord's back was scorched in the laser bolt's wake.

"Kaiden, you go help Tony, I'll take care of this guy," Rex said.

"Right," Kaiden said, and the Lion Zord streaked off, only to be met by two other Zords, green and yellow. The Eagle Zord screeched challengingly at the red Zord, which removed the bow and transformed its weapon into a mace.

"Okay, let's see how good you are in three dimensions," Rex said, and sent his Zord up over the other's head. The other Zord rotated, twirling its mace. Then, screaming down through space, the Eagle Zord opened fire, lasers peppering its opponent from top to bottom. Something exploded, and the red Zord drifted towards the Earth.

"I still want to know who you are," Rex said. The radio crackled for a minute, but then a voice came through. It had an electronic distortion, but was definitely a man's voice.

"We are the Monster Rangers. We serve the Alchemist," the stranger said.

"Who's we?" Rex asked, but the other was silent. Before Rex could process this, a blast rocked his Zord. Swinging around, the Red Ranger saw two more humanoid Zords, black and blue, arrive, both armed.

"This is a warning to Stellar Corps," the first one said, "Surrender to the Alchemist or be destroyed."

"Sorry, not happening," Rex replied, shooting at the newcomer. The Black Zord raised its trident and deflected all of the shots out into space. Moving as quickly as he could, Kaiden dove between the other two Zords, but the yellow snagged the Lion Zord's right hind leg with its meteor hammer and dragged it back into range.

"Go contact your friends," the other Red Ranger continued. "We will not destroy you until you have delivered the message."

But Rex's blood was up.

"Deliver your own message!" He snarled, and dove below the Red Zord. The Blue Zord swooped forward, but not before Rex shot up, grabbing the Red Monster Zord's wings with his talons. With a scream of tearing metal, he ripped the bat wings off and threw them at the Blue Zord. "Come and get me!"

~oOo~

In the store, Tony and the two girls still hadn't seen any Angels, or any other people. The light from the skylights dimmed, as dark rain clouds drew over the mall. Then they heard a man scream. The crying one—whose name had turned out to be Marisol—jumped.

"Rachel," she said, clutching her friend's hand tighter, "that sounded like Nathan."

"It could have been anybody," Rachel replied soothingly, "Nathan's probably at the police station by now."

"Could you two please quiet down? I'm trying to hear the Angels," Tony snapped. His hand was beginning to hurt from his death grip on the Martial Lance, and he flexed his fingers. Marisol gulped, and Tony immediately felt bad.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you," he said, "I'm just tense." Then Rachel froze.

"Ranger," she said, staring in one direction and slowly raising her hand to point. Tony whirled around, and saw the Weeping Angel half-hidden under the stairs. It stood, looking directly at them, hands spread in what would have been a welcoming gesture from any other creature. Marisol began to back up, her gaze darting around like a trapped animal's.

"There's another one," she gasped, pointing off to Tony's left. Sure enough, a second Weeping Angel stood, looking over its shoulder at them, near a darkened department store. Tony turned a full, careful circle, and bit his lip in terror. Behind them was a third Angel, reaching towards them, and a fourth approached from the other direction.

"What do we do?" Rachel asked, trying to keep the quaver out of her voice. Her knuckles were white as she gripped Marisol's hand.

"Look at them and don't blink," Tony said, moving back-to-back with the pair. "Don't look them in the eye and don't blink." During their turning the first two Angels had gotten closer, and were looking considerably less peaceful. Their feminine faces were contorted into snarls, and the claws on their fingers were long and sharp.

"I can't look at two at once!" Marisol cried. Tony raised his lance, and took several deep breaths. He tried to wink one eye at a time, but the Angel kept getting closer. Then an idea struck the Green Ranger.

"Go ahead and blink, but when I give the word, drop!" He said. His hands trembled with a surge of adrenaline.

"What?" Marisol cried.

"Don't argue!" Rachel cut her off shrilly. The Angels drew closer, reaching out for the three. Tony twirled his lance, hoping the creatures weren't smart enough to realize what he was going to do. They were almost close enough to touch the three now.

"Drop!" He yelled, ducking down as he shouted. Marisol's shoulder jolted him as she dropped, and Rachel landed awkwardly on one hand, letting out a shriek. Then there was a silence.

Gasping, the three looked up at the Weeping Angels. They stood in a tight circle around the three humans, hands outstretched. Tony grinned under his helmet, and the tension went out of his shoulders. Then, the sound of running footsteps echoed through the mall, and Kaiden, morphed and axe at the ready, came out of the darkness.

"Come on," Tony said, and began squeezing through the gap between two of the Angels.

"What happened?" Rachel asked, following after a pause.

"The Angels can't move if they're being watched, which is why you're not supposed to blink. They don't blink, though, so if they see each other they're trapped," Tony explained, standing up and helping Rachel to her feet. Elandra arrived as Marisol crawled out, still staring at the Angels. Without a word to any of the others, the Orange Ranger started scanning the Angels. Tony powered down, looking slightly crestfallen.

"Hey, I couldn't have defeated four Weeping Angels at once," Rachel said, sensing his disappointment. "Especially not while protecting two civilians." Tony brightened. Then Elandra's communicator went off.

"James?" She asked.

"It's Marco," the Black Ranger's voice came through. "Have you and James finished the Kronos Cube? I need it."

"Yes. James needs your coordinates, though," Elandra said, continuing her scan.

"Angel Grove Park, August 14, 1974," Marco said, prompting several confused looks and double takes from the others. "Time approximately—Ernie, do you have a watch?" There was a pause, and then Marco continued, "Fourteen hundred and six hours."

"Do we need to know what's going on?" Rachel asked, "Or is that not important?"

"The Angels can send people back in time," Elandra said to the two girls. "This should help us get them back."

There was a blue flash, and James, Marco, and the four other unwilling time-travelers appeared at the top of the stairs. They didn't look any the worse for wear. James stepped out of the crowd, hopped on the banister and slid down to the other Rangers. He and Elandra began conferring over their technology.

"Nathan!" Marisol cried, letting go of Rachel's hand and running up the stairs. The young man met her halfway and seized her in a bear hug. James disappeared with another flash, returning a second later with three other people. Within minutes, all seventeen of the Angels' victims had been returned. They were all security guards, store employees and kiosk operators.

"Who are they?" Elandra asked Rachel, who shrugged.

"I've never met either of them before," she said.

"What were you doing here?" the Orange Ranger asked, looking over Rachel's waitress uniform. The girl tugged the hem of the short dress awkwardly.

"I was going to work when I heard someone scream," Rachel said, "So I came in to see what was going on. Then I saw an Angel, and I hid. Marisol and I bumped into each other in the store." Elandra nodded approvingly, paused, and looked more closely at Rachel.

"Rachel Karen Lee?" She asked. Rachel nodded, twirling a blonde curl nervously in her fingers. Elandra let out a curt laugh. "This is absurdly convenient," she said, "Pink Ranger. We were going to go pick you up after the mission was over." Rachel let out a squeal of joy and hopped up and down, hands over her mouth. Marco reached into a pocket, and removed the ring case. The Mercury Ring was made of polished electrum, and fitted neatly on Rachel's right ring finger. Then Marco's helmet radio beeped.

"Rex?" The Black Ranger asked.

"Good guess," the Red Ranger's voice came through, breathless and pained.

"Where are you and Kaiden? We sent you to back up Tony ages ago," James asked.

"Under attack," Kaiden said, "but not anymore."

"Specifics, please," Elandra snapped.

"Five evil humanoid Zords attacked us on our way down," Rex said. "Apparently the Alchemist has his own team of Rangers now. They're gone for now, but the Eagle Zord's not flying so well."

"Lion Zord's barely on," Kaiden added.

"Coming," Marco said. He turned and ran for the parking lot, followed by the other Rangers. Calling on her new powers, Rachel zipped out ahead of them, whooping as she saw the Zords waiting there. It had started raining, but the blonde didn't care, she was so excited.

"Where's mine!" She shouted, as the others caught up to her.

"In the hangar," James said, dashing over to his Dolphin Zord and vaulting up.

"Don't summon it, it isn't worth the trip," Elandra said, climbing into her Swan Zord. "Hop in." Rachel followed the Orange Ranger, and they all took off at once. The wind stripped dozens of leaves off the little parking-lot trees and rocked the few cars parked around the curb.

The trip into space was brief, fast and tense. Two distant smudges grew in their vision, and solidified into the Eagle and Lion Zords. One of the red Zord's eyes was shattered, black burns scored its entire body, one wing had been half-torn free, and a talon had broken off entirely. The Lion Zord drifted towards the moon, its metal hull ripped open in dozens of places. There were hisses, gasps and muttered exclamations of disbelief from all the Rangers. The Swan Zord came up over the Eagle and caught the Zord gently, and the Bear Zord did the same for Kaiden. The entourage set off for the Satellite Base, silently mulling over their new enemy.

~oOo~

Trivia: Kronos is the ancient Greek god of time, and was represented by the planet Saturn.


	8. Chapter 8: Quartattack

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or Doctor Who.

~oOo~

It was mid-afternoon. James and Kaiden were engaged in an intense staring contest in the Rec Room, observed closely by Marco. Rex was watching another anime in the corner, Elandra looking over his shoulder, and Tony and Rachel were discussing military tactics.

"But why don't we just blow up the Angels?" Rachel asked.

"Blowing them up while they're stone won't kill them," Tony replied, "Enough of an energy boost and they'll regenerate. We have to destroy them when they're in their real form, and they only take that when we can't see them."

"How does he even stand up?" Elandra asked, pointing to the character on the screen. "With that little muscle those shoulder pads should just knock him over."

"It's an anime," Rex replied, "Physics don't work the same way." Elandra started re-pony-tailing her hair.

"I wonder," She said, "Could that outfit exist in the real world?" In reply, Rex opened his browser and began showing Elandra pictures of cosplayers. Tony tapped Marco on the arm.

"Sir, what exactly is the Kronos Cube?" He asked, stepping back and folding his hands behind his back. Rachel sat on the table nearby. So as not to break Kaiden and James's concentration, Marco moved away from their contest.

"Weeping Angels are complex space-time anomalies, so naturally Time Force detected their arrival, and with their help, Elandra and I designed a time-traveling device to recover their victims. Anyone touching it can travel between two preset dates and places at the push of a button."

"Ah. Neat," Tony said, nodding. Then the alarm, a shrill three-beat tone, sounded, and James blinked. Marco punched it off as he went out the door.

"Hah, I win!" Kaiden cried as they all started for the command deck. On the elevator, the alarm went off again.

"Didn't you turn it off?" Tony asked.

"Yes. We've got a separate attack," Marco replied as the doors hissed open. He and James darted in first, reaching the consoles and turning off the second alarm.

"We've got four Angels in London, and five more on KO-35," the Blue Ranger reported, and a third alarm cut him off. "Okay, five more on Mirinoi," he added.

"Elandra, James and I will go to Mirinoi," Marco began, "Kaiden and Tony will take London, and—" a different, lower alarm sounded. James checked it, and bit his lip. Typing for a second, the Blue Ranger brought the attack on-screen, and all of the Rangers paused.

Stalking through the streets of Blue Bay Harbor were five strange Rangers, smashing benches and blasting trees as they walked. People ran screaming in every direction, but through the noise the Stellar Corps could hear electronic laughter.

"Right," Marco said, "New plan. I will go to Mirinoi, Tony and Kaiden to London, James and Rachel to KO-35, and Elandra and Rex take the other Rangers, pooling Zords as needed. As soon as the rest of you finish, go help Elandra and Rex. Dismissed." The Rangers scrambled away.

~oOo~

KO-35 was all but deserted as the Dolphin and Cheetah Zords landed. The only sound was the wind whipping around the skyscrapers. Waving a scanner around, Rachel hopped down from her Zord and turned a full circle. Neither she nor James had morphed yet.

"That way," she said, gesturing to their left with the scanner. James's eyes glowed blue.

"They're hiding in the alleys. I'll come in from behind, you take the front." He said, as the light faded. "Ready for your first morph?" Grinning, the Pink Ranger raised her fist.

"Medieval Planets, Descend!"

_Rachel is standing in space, the planets whirling around her. Mercury halts above her, and its rosy light envelops her, solidifying into her Pink Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Mercury blazes out of her chest, and becomes an emblem._

Drawing her Mercurial Sais, Rachel started down the street. There were many shadows and narrow alleyways between the buildings. Rachel kept having to stop herself from staring in one direction, reminding herself that that was how the expendable people in scary movies got killed. The wind picked up, and Rachel spotted the first Weeping Angel next to a brick building.

"Okay," she said, twirling her sais. Hoping she wouldn't run into a wall, Rachel charged at super speed, closing her eyes at the last second as she threw one sai. There was a shriek and Rachel skidded to a halt, turning to see her sai lying on a heap of grey dust. Letting out a deep breath, the Pink Ranger retrieved her weapon.

As she was bending down to get it, there was a loud howl right behind her, and Rachel shrieked, the following explosion knocking her off-balance. Spinning around, the Pink Ranger saw James's glowing visor fade to black, and she looked down at the second heap of Angel dust. The Blue Ranger offered her a hand, which she took.

"Th-thanks," she stammered, as James pulled her to her feet. "What did you just do?"

"Tried something new, telepathic attack. Made him implode. Don't let your guard down," he replied, as she dusted herself off.

~oOo~

The Wolf Zord touched down in the middle of a wide London plaza. About twenty people stood in a line across from the Weeping Angels, staring at them as the rest fled. Hopping down, Kaiden looked around.

"Aw, we can't see Big Ben or anything from here," he said, and spotted the Angels, "Hey, thanks, guys, we can take it from here." The watchers started backing away as Tony and Kaiden stepped forward.

"For once, monsters that don't focus wholly on America. Solar Axe!" Kaiden said, twirling the weapon.

"Is that really a good thing? Martial Lance!" Tony asked, stepping forward.

"I dunno, this way we get to visit lots of different places," Kaiden replied. "Blink!" There was a crash, and two Angels collapsed into dust.

"Doesn't that seem a bit selfish to you?" Tony said. Tweaking an Angel's nose, Kaiden got ready for his next strike.

"Maybe, but it's helping all the people in different countries learn how to react in a crisis, isn't it? Geronimo!"

~oOo~

Elandra and Rex landed in front of the evil Rangers and climbed out. Smoke billowed from burning heaps of debris, thick and blinding in the blazing mid-afternoon sunshine. The Monster Rangers halted, and formed an outward-facing circle, weapons drawn. The wind flicked their capes and swung the Yellow Ranger's meteor hammer, but they themselves didn't move a muscle.

"I take it you are refusing the Alchemist's offer?" The Red Monster Ranger asked, hefting his crossbow.

"Yeah, pretty much," Rex replied, swinging his Power Sword experimentally.

"Not a wise choice," the Green Ranger said, revealing a feminine voice as she spun her twin daggers. The Yellow Ranger swung his meteor hammer, Elandra ducking only just in time as the fist-sized metal ball shot over her head. Then the Rangers charged, Green, Red and Black attacking Rex and Blue and Yellow going after Elandra.

Rex deflected the Green Ranger's thrown daggers with his sword, and trapped Monster Black's trident with his foot. Taking advantage of the moment, the Red Monster Ranger fired a volley of lasers at Rex, and the resulting explosion catapulted Rex back through a store front with a crash. As they charged he leaped back up, deflecting their shots back at them with his sword and hitting the other Red Ranger in the leg.

Backing up so she had room to shoot, Elandra raised her bow again. The Yellow Ranger's meteor hammer wrapped around it and yanked it out of her hands. Dropping into a fighting stance, the Orange Ranger somersaulted forward and swept Monster Yellow's feet out from under him. Monster Blue went after Elandra, but she kicked him in the wrist, and he dropped his sword with a cry.

Rex was nearly surrounded when a wall of ice shot up between him and the evil Rangers. Looking around, he saw Marco stride out of the smoke, sickle resting across his shoulder. The Yellow Ranger swung his meteor hammer again, but Tony cartwheeled between him and Elandra and caught the weapon on his arm.

"I do like the lightning bolt motif, very retro," Kaiden said, tapping the Black Ranger on the shoulder to get his attention and then punching him in the face. "But I question the capes. Don't they get in the way—like this?" Grabbing the cloth in question, he wrapped it over the Ranger's head and kneed him in the gut.

Slowly, the Stellar Corps herded the evil Rangers into a tight clump in the middle of the battered street.

"How were we for timing?" Tony asked Rex, as he caught one of the Green Monster Ranger's daggers.

"Okay, though a few minutes ago wouldn't have been bad," the Red Ranger replied, ducking as his counterpart shot at him. Then the five evil Rangers teleported away, the flashes of colored light disappearing too quickly to follow. Winded, the Stellar Rangers took a moment to regain their breath.

"Right, then. Standard protocol; look for injured or trapped people, I'll check in on James and Rachel," Marco said, raising a hand and letting the ice wall melt into a puddle.

~oOo~

James, Elandra and Rex were in the Zord hangar, working on repairs silently. Having just lost a massive argument about using duct tape to repair a Zord—"Not the hull, just some of the pipes and less important stuff!"—Rex was busy building his Eagle Zord a new foot alone. James and Elandra had nearly finished soldering the breached hulls of both Zords closed when Marco entered. Elandra slid out from under the Eagle and pulled off her goggles, which gave her raccoon eyes, to look up at him.

"Good, I wanted to talk to both of you," he said, stepping around the Cheetah Zord and sitting next to Rex. James popped out from behind the Lion Zord, peeved and with a large grease stain across his cheek.

"Which both?" He asked. Marco grinned apologetically.

"Sorry, didn't see you. I meant my Red Ranger and my fellow plotter." Distinctly miffed, James dropped back behind the Lion Zord and got back to work. Elandra scratched her nose, smudging the raccoon eyes, and sat down next to Marco.

"What's your big idea?" She asked, folding her hands and looking at her husband expectantly. He took a deep breath, and Rex put down the handful of wires he was working on.

"Now that we have a full team, and access to all of the Zords, I think we should go on the offensive. Get the Angels all at once, at their home base." The hiss of James's welding torch cut off. Elandra and Rex stared.

"Attack the Cimmerian Planet?" Rex asked. Marco nodded, his face grim. Slowly, the Red Ranger's face broke into a fierce grin.

"I'm in," he said. "The sooner we cut down on our enemies, the better."

"Me too," James called. "Then we can concentrate on the Monster Rangers."

"The Zords can do it," Elandra said. A relieved smile lit up Marco's face, though it quickly became serious again.

"We'll set out tomorrow. I'll go find the other Rangers and tell them. James, I want a full report on that new attack of yours, along with any others the Rangers used. We'll need all the help we can get."

~oOo~

Trivia: The Sentai counterpart had two main villains-the Weeping Angels' leader and the Alchemist counterpart, a mad scientist obsessed with old monster movies. The two factions did not get along.


	9. Chapter 9: Bombardment

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or Doctor Who.

A/N: New scene is new and at the end. Character development is fun!

~oOo~

It was early morning again, but this time Marco wasn't the only one up. Tony, Rachel, James and Rex were all awake and trying to keep themselves busy. Rex and Tony sparred, Rachel quizzed herself with a star chart, and James was trying to find some way to make the incompatible Zords go together. He was not making any headway.

Just as Rex flipped Tony flat on his back, Marco came in, with a groggy Elandra and damp Kaiden in tow. Rachel folded up the star chart and stood up beside Rex and Tony, the latter of whom was still catching his breath. James joined them a second later, after he'd put the computer on hibernate.

"You're all ready," Marco asked, looking each Ranger in the eye. They chorused their yes's quietly, and he nodded. "Once we reach the Cimmerian Planet, you will follow my orders without question or hesitation. Stopping to ask why I want you to do something could cost us dearly. Let's move."

The trip was long and quiet. Nobody tried to talk, they just held their Zords on course and watched the stars whiz by. Finally, a small, reddish dot appeared in the distance, and as they drew closer, it became recognizable as the Cimmerian Planet. Elandra scanned it, and reported, as they passed the moon, that all the Weeping Angels were in the Northern hemisphere of the planet.

Soon, they reached the outermost layer of warning beacons, and Marco drew his Bear Zord to a halt. The others followed, clustering around him and waiting for orders. The nearest beacon addressed them with a metal-tinged female voice, warning them of the Angel infestation every few seconds.

"We'll form the Ultrazord out here," the Black Ranger said. Despite the blanket of gloom, several of the Rangers grew audibly excited.

"Finally!" James hissed.

"When do we start? What part am I going to be?" Kaiden asked.

"Wicked," Rex said. "Do it."

"Ultrazord formation, now!" The Rangers all cried.

_The Dolphin and Lion Zords fold up and become legs. The Cheetah and Bear lie down, their heads flipping around to expose fists. The Wolf folds its limbs in and becomes the torso, and the Eagle settles atop it, head sliding back to reveal a face. The Swan Zord curls in its neck and settles on the back, wings attaching to the Eagle's and lengthening to match the size of the Ultrazord. Each Ranger's seat slides up into the head and the Zord strikes a pose._

"_Stellar Ultrazord!"_

"James, where are most of the Angels?" Marco asked. After a moment, James pinpointed nearly fifty Angels clustered near the equator, and they flew in. Within seconds, the Rangers could see grey, winged smudges standing in what had been Dark Specter's meeting place.

"Blind attack," Marco ordered. The Eagle helmet dropped down over the Ultrazord's face, and Kaiden summoned the Mega Axe, and flames wreathed the enormous blade.

"Well, here goes," the Yellow Ranger said. As one, the Rangers shouted, "Solar Axe, Flare Strike!" The Ultrazord swung a full circle, whirling the Axe. The Rangers couldn't see what happened, but felt the Angels shatter as the weapon struck them, and heard their howls of surprise and fury.

"That was how many, do you think?" Rachel asked, twisting around in her seat to look at James. The Blue Ranger thought for a second. His eyes glowed blue through his visor. The Ultrazord landed with a crash, and several pillars toppled outside.

"Sixty-four," he said, as the Eagle helmet rose again, and they looked out at the Cimmerian Planet. There were more Angels in the distance in every direction, closing in on the Ultrazord.

"Tony, shield the entire Ultrazord," Marco ordered, and a green glow covered the entire robot.

"Jovian Sword!" Rex cried, and began hacking at the Angels with wide sweeps that left crimson energy trails in the air.

"Rachel, join in," Marco snapped, and the Pink Ranger summoned her Mercurial Sais. The Ultrazord attached the daggers hilt-to-hilt, worked them into a spin, and hurled the weapon at the approaching Angels. There was a massive, pink explosion, and the Sais flew back into the Ultrazord's hand. Still, the Weeping Angels came on, maybe hundreds of them. Marco looked to James.

"James, Lunar Nunchuks. We're going to try your new attack." The Blue Ranger summoned the weapons, and waited on Marco. "Our combined power should cover this hemisphere, and take out all the Angels on the planet, but it'll be draining, so Elandra on standby. Tony, keep the shields up until the last second." The Rangers nodded, and James took several slow breaths. At the Ultrazord's feet, the nearest Angels started trying to tear through the hull, but Tony strengthened his shield. The Ultrazord spun the Nunchuks, which started glowing blue-white. The Rangers raised their rings, which lit up, and the energy's color fluctuated.

"Now!" The green light around the Ultrazord poured into the Nunchuks.

"Lunar Nunchuks, Opposition Strike!" The Rangers shouted, and slammed the Nunchuks into the first wave of Angels. A blinding white wave of energy blasted outwards from the strike, and all of the Rangers were flung back by the shock. Each Angel the light touched was vaporized instantly, and the wave spread out beyond the Rangers' sight.

The Rangers climbed back into their chairs, gasping for breath. The energy wave was nothing but a glow on the horizon, and then it faded entirely. Elandra caught James as he slumped back in his chair, demorphing. He was semiconscious, and sweat glued his black hair to his forehead.

"He's okay," the Orange Ranger finally said, and James pushed away to sit up straight. He caught his breath.

"Great. We're done?" He asked, wiping his face.

"We are," Marco replied, turning back to his controls. "Beginning Zord detachment sequence."

The Rangers sat back in their seats as the Ultrazord began coming apart. Rex stayed where he was, while all the others dropped back into their normal Zords. Nobody spoke, and the machinery ground away smoothly in the background. Marshalling around Marco, the Zords began the trip back to the Satellite Base.

Now with the mission complete, the tension hovering over the Rangers broke, and they started discussing previous Rangers. It turned out that Rachel was the expert on Ranger history, and the others started quizzing her about their favorite teams' secret identities.

"What about the originals?" Tony asked, as they looped over an asteroid field.

"Red was Jason Lee Scott, Yellow was Trini Kwan, Blue Billy Cranston, Pink Kimberly Hart—" and Kaiden interrupted Rachel.

"Wait, as in Kimberly Ann Hart?"

"Yeah—wait a minute," Rachel paused. "Kaiden Anthony Hart?"

"That's my name," Kaiden replied, and laughed. "My big sister, the family airhead, a Power Ranger. Irony."

"Hey, did you ever see her fight?" Tony said. "Nothing airheaded about it."

"I haven't seen her since I was, like, four years old, give me a break," Kaiden protested.

"Um, off-topic and awkward," James said. Mirinoi came into view, and they paused to try and spot Terra Venture as they passed. After the blue-green globe faded from view, Rex asked Rachel how many Eagle Rangers there had been before, and that restarted the conversation. As the Earth appeared in the distance, the Rangers got into a playful argument over whether having a lot of predecessors or being unique was better.

~oOo~

It was midnight, and Rachel couldn't sleep. She'd been tossing and turning for hours, kept awake by the rumble of the Satellite Base's engines somewhere below her bunk. Finally she decided to stop trying and do some exploring instead. Sitting up, Rachel threw her jacket over her tank top and shorts and left her quarters.

The Rec Room, which all of the Rangers' quarters opened into, was only lit by low, blue lights. Rachel shivered, and went to the elevator. Five decks. Command center was out—Rachel had never been good with technology—as was the Zord deck and engineering section. She had already pushed the button for the living area, and the doors opened up to their oxygen plant—a miniature, robotic forest designed by Marco and Elandra.

Rachel climbed out, wishing she'd remembered to wear slippers. Mist rolled along the dirt-covered floor, sending goosebumps up Rachel's bare legs. The dozens of starlight-filled tubes reaching through the trees' branches lit the entire place like a full moon. If Rachel didn't look straight up, she could almost forget that she was in space at all.

Then she saw someone sitting on a rock deeper in the woods. His back was to her, and he was in a grey t-shirt, so Rachel couldn't tell who it was. She coughed, and he started and turned around. It was Tony, who relaxed a little when he saw who it was.

"You couldn't sleep either?" Rachel asked, coming closer. Tony sat back down, shaking his head. Sitting on a boulder across from Tony, Rachel crossed her legs and leaned forward.

"Was it the engine for you, too, or something else?" She asked. Tony shrugged, looking down at his lap. Rachel rolled her eyes. "That isn't an answer."

"You'll think it's stupid," Tony said, fiddling with his hands and still not looking at her.

"As long as it isn't bedwetting, no I won't," Rachel said.

"Bad dreams," Tony said. Rachel scooted forward and scrutinized the Green Ranger.

"Sometimes in the past, bad guys have put Rangers under spells to give them nightmares," she said, "Or someone gives them messages through their dreams."

"It didn't feel like that. It was about the Weeping Angels," Tony said. "I can't stop thinking about how many might not have been on the Cimmerian Planet when we blasted it."

"I hadn't thought of that," Rachel said, and drew her jacket tighter around herself. "I don't know how you do it, always being so calm and confident when we're fighting unbelievably fast and strong killer statues." Tony laughed bitterly.

"Confession: the Weeping Angels _terrify_ me," he said. "Everything about them is wrong. They don't belong in this universe at all. Every time I hear the alarm go off, I hope it's a giant monster or the evil Rangers, or even the Alliance of Evil resurrected and ten times as powerful as before, anything as long as I don't have to try and defeat another living rock. Some Power Ranger I make, huh?"

"Then why volunteer to fight them?" Rachel asked. Tony paused. Machinery thrummed, filling the silence.

"Because I want to help people," he said at last.

"Then you're a Power Ranger," Rachel said. "Protecting the universe has always been the reason for the Rangers to exist. I remember the mall fight; you didn't panic, even though you were alone and surrounded."

"I'm talking a lot," Tony said, getting up and stretching. "I'd never have said this much if it weren't the middle of the night."

"Honestly, I think I like this version of you better," Rachel said, standing as well.

"You might, but will the others?" Tony asked.

"I don't see why not. I bet everyone's just as scared of the Angels as you are," Rachel said.

"Except for Rex," Tony said. "Maybe Kaiden." Rachel shrugged, and they both went back to the elevator.

~oOo~

Trivia: Kimberly does mention a brother in The Wedding part 1, though I made Rye Lee change him from being a twin to much younger than her, which is why he wouldn't come up often.


	10. Chapter 10: The Creeping Terror

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, or any of the characters but Elandra—Marco's technically a minor canon from Doctor Who, and everyone else I'm just borrowing. I also do not own the Creeping Terror—despite being an MST3K fan, I haven't seen more than a "best of" montage yet. Oh, well.

~oOo~

James was sitting at the computer, playing the Alchemist's message on repeat as he browsed a website about Aztec mythology. Sitting in the far corner, Tony read and listened to music. Whenever James muttered something to himself—a frequent occurrence—Tony popped an earbud out and asked "What?", until James finally spun around.

"Look, I talk to myself, okay? If it's important, I'll get your attention first," the Blue Ranger said.

"Sorry, just trying to stay alert," Tony replied in an injured tone. Rolling his eyes, James went back to the screen. His hand was starting to cramp from using the mouse for so long. Why did they call it a mouse, anyway? He squinted at the Alchemist, gabbling on again about the Weeping Angels.

"Wait…that's not right," he said, and zoomed in on the old man's eyes. Then realization struck James, and he began typing frantically. Leaping out of his chair, he ran to the wall communicator.

"Marco?" James said, holding down the button.

"What is it?" Marco snapped.

"The Alchemist. He's a hologram," James said, not paying attention to his mentor's tone. Tony, who'd sat up as soon as James left his chair, turned off his music and shoved the iPod cord into the book to mark his place.

"What?" Marco exclaimed. In the background, James could hear Elandra say something, but too far away from the comm. to be discerned. "I'll be right out."

The Black and Orange Rangers arrived a second later, Elandra ponytailing her hair back out of her face as she came. From their tense stances and occasional glares, they'd been arguing. James sat back in the computer chair, and Marco leaned over his shoulder to look.

"The eyes give it away," James said, punching commands into the computer. "They don't move around, don't even twitch. He blinks, but he never looks in any other direction. See?" Marco watched the screen, and James watched him for his reaction. Stepping back, the Black Ranger was about to speak when an alarm went off.

All four Rangers charged up to the command deck, where Tony, Kaiden and Rex were already. The Red Ranger turned the alarm off just as they came inside. James slithered past them and into the chair, bringing up the image on the monitor in seconds.

"A monster in Turtle Cove," the Blue Ranger said quickly, as the screen focused on a wide street. The six other Rangers crowded around his chair to see, and stared in disbelief. The monster was a blobby grayish-brown thing the size of a bus that wriggled down the street, trying to suck people into its enormous mouth.

"That…no way," Kaiden said, shaking his head. "Did the Alchemist turn his moldy old carpets into a monster?"

"I think I've seen that thing before—in some old late-night B-movie," Rachel said thoughtfully. "Terror of the Crawling Nightmare or Night of the Crawling Terror or something."

"The Creeping Terror, 1964, stop making jokes and get moving! We're taking the Bear and Wolf Zords!" Marco snapped, and ran for the Zord Bay. The others followed a second later, still thoroughly weirded out.

"The Alchemist likes B-movie monsters," Tony said, climbing into the cockpit of the Wolf Zord. "But at least the Monster Rangers are actually Rangers. This is just ridiculous."

~oOo~

Landing the two Zords, the Rangers piled out and stared at the creature. It exhaled a green cloud, and everyone who breathed it began to slow down and started towards it. As each screaming person climbed inside its mouth, the monster grew larger with a flash of green light. Tony began running mentally through plan ideas, as he started pulling people away from the Creeping Terror.

"In Soviet Russia, meatloaf eat you!" Kaiden said, with the appropriate accent. Raising his sword, Rex stabbed the creature in what might have been its side. It roared and slammed into him, throwing him on his back. Green ooze bubbled out of the wound, and Rex's sword blade began to turn brown.

"Hey! Give that back!" Rex shouted, leaping to grab the sword, but the creature moved away and he bounced off its rubbery hide.

"I repeat what I said on the Base: this is patently ridiculous," Tony said.

"Well, we're already pretty unorthodox Rangers," Rachel said, kicking the Creeping Terror from the other side. "Nobody's ever fought anything like the Weeping Angels, we have no secret identities—oh yeah, and we're all white."

"I'm Hispanic," James said, picking up a man who was crawling towards the monster and carrying him out of the way. "Not that it really matters."

"Really? You don't look it," Tony said, twirling his lance and stepping directly in front of the creature. The monster opened its mouth to breathe out more gas, and the Green Ranger threw the lance. It flew into the shadows and vanished, and the monster shut its mouth with a snap. It rumbled a little, but kept on moving. Tony felt a flicker of uncertainty.

"Never underestimate a monster," Marco said, slashing the creature across the back. Weirdly, he almost sounded pleased.

"Give it a second," Tony said, though he was starting to doubt whether his idea would work. The monster swung around towards the Black Ranger, and as it did, it let out a shriek. "That's it," the Green Ranger said, grinning under his helmet. Rex reached for his sword again, which was almost entirely brown by now, but the monster writhed and the hilt rolled out of reach. Rumbling, the creature rolled around and spat the lance back out. It clattered on the pavement, covered in semitransparent green slime. Rachel gagged loudly at the sight of it, and Tony nudged it with a toe.

"Good idea," Elandra said, running along the length of the monster and drawing her bow. "Let's irritate the wound." She fired a volley of orange bolts into the monster's mouth, and it howled in pain. Rex somersaulted over its back, yanking his sword out of its side as he did, and landed on one knee.

"Hah! Finally," he said, and then dropped the weapon with a cry. His glove was already turning brown, and he ripped it off. Tony fell to one knee and yelled, grabbing at his foot as it began to steam.

"Naturally, its blood is toxic," Elandra griped, dragging a hobbling Tony out of the monster's way. Rex followed, cradling his hand, and they halted in an alley. The monster slid forward, paused, and then seemed to realize that the things that had been annoying him so much were the other way.

"Now what?" James asked Marco, as the monster began to turn around. It was almost too large to fit in the street by now, and about twice its original length. The green gas clouds were bigger, and more people staggered out into the open to be devoured. Tony didn't hear the rest of the other Rangers' conversation, but he did hear the loud whooshes that meant Kaiden was doing his flamethrower-hands thing. He plunked down against a brick wall, and watched Elandra.

The Orange Ranger scanned Rex's hand with her eye beams. The veins were turning brown, and the poison was halfway up his forearm. She paused, and the farthest edges of the veins glowed orange. Rex flinched, and then Elandra stopped.

"Never dealt with poison before," She muttered, watching as the poison spread back to where she'd stopped it.

"Oh that's comforting," Rex said through gritted teeth. The Orange Ranger ignored him.

"Does that mean we're dying?" Tony asked, hoping he didn't sound as scared as he felt.

"_Oh, _that's comforting," Rex said again. "You're a cheery one, Tony!"

"Not if I can help it," Elandra said, and went on muttering to herself. She turned to Tony and helped him pull off what was left of his boot. The slightest amount of pressure burned, but once the shoe was off, his foot felt a little better. The poison had reached his ankle, though. "Need to just destroy it. Tony, stop panicking and block the venom. Don't ask stupid questions; you'll figure it out." After a second, Tony realized what she meant, and he passed a glowing green hand over his ankle. The venom halted where it was.

"That's it!" Elandra cried, smacking the forehead of her helmet, "Why didn't I see it before?" She grabbed Tony's wrist wincingly tight. Her fist glowed orange, and slowly she moved his hand down his foot. The swollen veins glowed orange and went back to normal, and Tony let out a huge, shaky sigh of relief. Dragging him to his feet, Elandra began healing Rex's arm. The Red Ranger didn't make a sound, and hopping on his one shod foot, Tony felt thoroughly ridiculous.

Tony thought he glimpsed something red and fluttery in the alley behind them. But when he looked over his shoulder, he saw nothing, and turned back to Rex and Elandra. She let go of his wrist, and he went to retrieve his boot, even though it still steamed.

"Just go! Marco needs you to form the Megazord!" Elandra cried, giving the Green Ranger a shove. He staggered back out into the street and squeezed past the monster's wide body. It suddenly struck him that he was going to fight a giant, living moldy meatloaf, using a huge robot, while only wearing one shoe. This was the weirdest thing he'd ever done in his life. As Tony climbed inside the Wolf, Marco began the combination sequence.

_The Bear Zord swings upright, its lower body unfolding into the Megazord's legs. The Wolf folds its limbs together into arms, and settles atop the Bear, its tail wrapping around the waist to form a belt. Its head slides back to reveal a humanoid face, and it draws a long-handled scythe._

"_Superior Conjunction Battlezord!"_

The monster, smoking from Kaiden's attacks, roared as the Megazord rose above it. The other Rangers drew back, so as to be out of the way.

"I don't think the monster was expecting us to do this," Tony said, as the scythe glowed green. "The blade won't get corrupted now," he added, "I didn't think of it before."

"Right," Marco said, as the Battlezord swung back the scythe. "When we return to base, you will all brainstorm the different ways you can use your powers to fight monsters or save people." They slashed across the monster's body in three quick swings, leaving blinding green trails in the blade's wake. The monster howled and exploded in a greenish fireball, leaving a cloud of dark smoke. Out of the shadows came dozens of little green lights, becoming people as they touched the ground. The two Rangers began detaching their Zords.

"Okay, where's my shoe?" Tony asked, clambering out of his Wolf Zord as the others approached. Somberly, Elandra held up a greenish loop of leather, singed at the bottom edge. Tony stared in disbelief, and Rachel and Kaiden tried to stifle their laughter.

"I couldn't save it," she said, "The venom had already gone too far. I'm sorry." Rex came after her, flexing his hand.

"If it's any consolation, my glove is a goner, too," he said. Tony just groaned, covering his eyes with a hand. So many people were staring at them right now.

"Look, you just saved all their lives," Kaiden said, gesturing to the civilians. "They aren't going to care whether you were barefoot when you did it." Tony smiled gratefully at him, and realized the Yellow Ranger couldn't see it under his helmet.

"Besides, your suit should repair itself," Rachel added, removing her helmet and getting to work removing the tangle of bobby pins from what was left of her bun. "Or at least it did for all the Rangers who broke helmets or got scorched." She looked to Elandra, who shrugged.

"Likely enough," the Orange Ranger said. "Same power source."

"Let's go," Marco said, turning back to the Bear Zord.

"Please!" Tony replied, darting after him.

~oOo~

Back on the Satellite Base, the Rangers split off into little groups. James went to his room and computer, Marco and Elandra to theirs to continue their argument, and the three newer Rangers went off to a corner by themselves. Rex looked around for a minute, and then joined them.

"What?" He asked innocently, as they all glanced at him with varying degrees of discomfort. Kaiden shook his head.

"We're the old newbies. You're one of the guys in charge." Rex raised his eyebrows.

"Old newbies?" Kaiden pointed to himself, then each of his teammates in turn.

"Twenty-three, twenty-one, nineteen." He gestured at Rex. "Eighteen. We're the old newbies. You're one of the senior Rangers and the youngest member of the team. Weird, huh?"

"Yeah, so?" Marco and Elandra were actually shouting, though their voices were too muffled to make anything out. Rex changed the subject. "Any ideas on beating the Monster Rangers? Marco wanted some research." Rachel went to the computer, and opened up some old files, and the guys followed her, the awkwardness dying away.

"Psycho Rangers," she said, pointing to a silent video of five very evil-looking Rangers. "Picked off one by one by the Space Rangers, then destroyed again by the team-up the year after. Lord Zedd's evil Rangers—the spell never took, and they didn't end up in combat." Tony began to pace, stroking his chin.

"We do best against the Monster Rangers when we team up on them," he said. "With seven of us and five of them, we just decide who to go after first, and divide and conquer."

"You're smart, I like you," Rex said, clapping the Green Ranger on the shoulder. "Which one do you think is the most dangerous?" Kaiden got bored of being ignored, and wandered off to see what James was doing. Strategy had never been his strong point, and he knew he'd probably just get in the way. As he reached James's door, it struck him that he might be in the way there as well. Then he shrugged and knocked on the door. At least computers were something he understood.

James didn't even open the door to say, "Go away, Kaiden. I'm busy."

"Doing what?" Kaiden asked, with exaggerated curiosity. "What's the big secret?"

"Leave me alone."

"You're sure I can't help with anything?" James's footsteps came nearer, and the door swooshed open. James glared at Kaiden.

"Very," he said flatly.

"Why don't you like me, bro?" Kaiden asked, completely serious for once. James didn't hesitate.

"You're annoying," the Blue Ranger said. "You never shut up. You're a ditz. You're always sticking your nose in other peoples' business."

"Maybe, but I learn a lot that way," Kaiden said. "Like, I know that Marco wants to pull Elandra out of active duty. That's what they've been fighting about lately. I don't know why, before you ask."

"Weird," James admitted. Encouraged, Kaiden went on.

"Yeah, it is. Also, Marco once said that he was almost glad about the Alchemist showing up, because otherwise we'd have to stop being Power Rangers, except for occasional missions."

"Okay, so?" James said. Kaiden shrugged.

"It just sounded like an odd thing for the mentor guy to say. Aren't they all supposed to be anti-unnecessary violence?" James shrugged, and began to shut the door.

"You're really sure there's nothing I can do to help out?" Kaiden asked one last time. James opened his mouth, and paused.

"Actually, you can help," he said, stepping back and letting Kaiden inside. "I've been wanting to test something." Grinning hugely, the Yellow Ranger entered. On James's computer desk sat his Power Ring, plugged into his laptop by a thin cable.

"I've been trying to copy memories onto disks," he said, "And it's worked for mine, but I need a guinea pig to see if I can do it to other people."

"Fine," Kaiden said, "As long as you don't go browsing through my memories or anything."

"Believe me, I want nothing to do with your mind, unique study though it may be," James said emphatically, putting on the ring.

"Dude, I get it, I'm not your favorite Ranger," Kaiden said, putting up his hands defensively.

"Okay, think about something," James said. Closing his eyes automatically, Kaiden raced around for a good memory for a bit, and then settled on the fight they'd just had. He saw the blue glow of James's ring through his eyelids, and then his memory shot into fast-forward. It was over almost before his eyes snapped open again, and James started replaying the video on his laptop. The Blue Ranger looked pleased.

"Great," he said, pausing the video, and actually smiling at Kaiden. "Thanks for helping me out."

"No prob," Kaiden said. "Gotta go now, lots of stuff to not do because I'm bored of them."

"You could try working on Marco's assignment, like I'm doing," James called.

"That's an idea. Maybe I can fly if I light myself on fire," Kaiden said, strolling out the door. James wasn't listening anymore, absorbed in his work.

~oOo~

A/N: For what it's worth, one character's perception of another does not necessarily match mine or reality. I'm just going by what kind of reaction their different temperaments might cause.

Trivia: The civilians climbing into the Creeping Terror's mouth is a reference to the fact that the characters in the film itself are very clearly doing just that whenever they get "eaten." It was a really, really bad puppet.


	11. Chapter 11: Toxicites

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, Doctor Who, or the submitted Rangers.

~oOo~

The five volunteer Rangers were sitting in the Rec Room, surrounded by piles of data cards and paper. Elandra and Marco hadn't been seen for more than five seconds at a time since the last fight—five days before. Kaiden manned one computer and James the other, while Tony, Rex and Rachel talked strategy.

"Okay, but here's my idea," Rex said, "Smaller Zords, more like Super Robot Wars' Real Robots. The regular Zords focus on firepower, but they aren't very maneuverable. These could draw the Monster Rangers' fire without getting hit, and take their Zords apart piece by piece."

"That could work," Tony said, brow furrowed in thought.

"Could? The Monster Rangers wouldn't know what hit them!" Kaiden said. "I don't get why some people pretend everything's just kinda interesting. Getting jumping-up-and-down excited is so much more fun!"

"Super Robot Wars—isn't that a cartoon?" Rachel asked.

"It's an anime! Not a cartoon!" Rex retorted.

"So it's a _Japanese_ cartoon, then," Rachel replied. "Lighten up, Rex—other Rangers have had small Zords before."

Then the alarm—the low, frantic beep that had signaled the previous Evil Ranger attack—sounded. The Rangers leaped to their feet, sending data cards and papers flying, and charged to the command deck in a herd. Marco and Elandra were there already, watching the Monster Rangers, who were striding through Angel Grove, throwing small black objects at the panicking people. As each one impacted, the black stuff spread across the person's body, covering it in seconds. Then the victim would get up, now a shiny black creature with bug like eyes and a mouthful of sharp teeth, and start attacking the other people.

"Those must be their footsoldiers," Marco said. "I should have seen this coming. We must be cautious."

"Dude, _foot soldiers_," Kaiden said. "How hard are they going to be?" Marco ignored him. The Black Ranger looked as if he was about to speak, when Elandra put a hand on his shoulder.

"Marco, after this one battle. It isn't going to do any favors for the team if we tell them now," she said. After a minute, Marco nodded.

"Let's move!"

~oOo~

The Monster Rangers were in the park, watching as their footsoldiers continued converting civilians. Then, the wind rose up, and they looked up to see the Stellar Zords descend, landing before and behind them. The footsoldiers drew back, hissing, as the Rangers climbed out. The few untransformed people squeezed out the gaps between the Zords, and ran to nearby buildings to watch the fight.

The Stellar Rangers, unmorphed, walked through the trees towards the Monster Rangers. All of the Toxicites left the civilians and charged the Rangers, blasting gluey black ooze from their hands. Rachel darted out of the way and Tony's power let the stuff roll off him, but the others were glued to the spot. Rachel started running laps around the Toxicites as the others tried to free themselves. Heat made the ooze thicken like tar, and ice only turned it slick. Rex managed to tear himself free and joined Rachel in keeping the Toxicites busy.

"Tony?" Marco called. The Green Ranger drew his Lance and began slicing through the stuff. It parted, and the four trapped Rangers joined the fight. Elandra stayed near Kaiden, who kept the Toxicites at bay with well-timed blasts of fire. Marco trapped five of the creatures in a tube of ice and yelled for James to scan them.

"I can't get through!" The Blue Ranger said, ducking as another Toxicite leaped over his head. "The ooze is blocking their minds." Then the trapped Toxicites vanished. Looking around, Marco and James noticed that any Toxicite that fell disappeared the same way.

"The Alchemist must be teleporting them out," Marco said.

"Morph," the Yellow Monster Ranger ordered, in a feminine New Zealander accent. "Stop toying with us."

"A Kiwi? Anyway, I was hoping you'd say that," Rex said, punching out the last few Toxicites between him and the evil Rangers. The seven stopped where they were.

"Medieval Planets, descend!"

_Rex is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Jupiter halts above him, and its reddish light envelops him, solidifying into his Red Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Jupiter blazes out of his chest._

"_King of the Planets! Red Jupiter Ranger!"_

_Elandra is standing in space, the planets whirling around her. Venus halts above her, and its orange light envelops her, solidifying into her Orange Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Venus blazes out of her chest, and becomes an emblem._

"_Morning and Evening Star! Orange Venus Ranger!"_

_James is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. The Moon halts above him, and its blue light envelops him, solidifying into his Blue Ranger suit. A ghostly version of the full Moon blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

"_Ruler of the Night Sky! Blue Lunar Ranger!"_

_Rachel is standing in space, the planets whirling around her. Mercury halts above her, and its rosy light envelops her, solidifying into her Pink Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Mercury blazes out of her chest, and becomes an emblem._

"_Swiftest of the Planets! Pink Mercury Ranger!"_

_Tony is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Mars halts above him, and an emerald light envelops him, solidifying into his Green Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Mars blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

"_Heavenly Lord of War! Green Mars Ranger!"_

_Kaiden is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Sol halts above him, and its golden light envelops him, solidifying into his Yellow Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Sol blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

"_Greatest Celestial Light! Yellow Solar Ranger!"_

_Marco is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Saturn halts above him, and its silvery light envelops him, solidifying into his Black Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Saturn blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

"_Ancient and Farthest Sphere! Black Saturn Ranger!"_

The seven charged into battle. The Monster Rangers dropped into fighting stances and leaped forward, accompanied by the remaining three Toxicites. The sides clashed at the edge of the trees with loud hi-yas.

Rex grabbed the other Red Ranger's arm and swung him around in a circle, but his foe used the momentum to land a jarring kick on Rex's back. Moving almost too fast to see, Rachel dragged a Toxicite away from the fight and slammed him into a tree. The Yellow Monster Ranger ignited her meteor hammer on Kaiden's blasts of flame and began swinging at him. Tony and the Green Ranger punched and kicked at each other, but were so fast neither could land a blow. Diving under the Blue Monster Ranger's arm, James entangled both their legs and felled him. Marco locked weapons with his opposite, and began forcing him back. Elandra and Rachel kept the Toxicites busy, though Rachel seemed to be doing most of the work.

The fight raged back and forth across the grass and concrete. Trees burst into flames, ignited by explosions of sparks or one of Kaiden's stray shots. The air was wreathed with smoke, lit up by flashes as both sides managed to score hits. Slowly but surely, though, the Stellar Rangers began to retreat. Elandra was the first to notice, not being in the thick of the fight.

"Hey! There are seven of us and five of them, why are we losing?" She yelled. "Put your backs into it!" And she seized the nearest Toxicite in a headlock and swung him around into a tree. He vanished before he hit the ground.

"Easy for you to say!" Rex shouted back, ducking a high kick from the evil Red Ranger. Grabbing the extended foot, the Jupiter Ranger flipped his enemy off-balance and slammed an elbow into his gut. Staggering back, the Monster Ranger drew his mace out of the air with a muffled shout, and swung at his opponent, clipping Rex's shoulder.

Rachel darted into the main fight, clipping the Green Monster Ranger on the ear in passing. Seizing the opportunity, Tony punched his opponent in the face with a glowing fist, throwing her back two yards and into a sturdy oak tree. The wood cracked, and the evil Ranger didn't get up.

Then the Black Monster Ranger roundhouse-kicked Marco in the head, and flipped to his fallen teammate's side as her morph vanished. Underneath the armor, the Green Ranger turned out to be a green-skinned woman in a black jumpsuit, who didn't respond to her fellow evil Ranger's shaking. Tony paused helping Marco up, taken off-guard. The evil Ranger said something, but the sounds of battle drowned him out. The two Stellar Rangers started for him, but the green woman was teleported away before they had come even a foot nearer. The Black Ranger leaped to his feet and faced the two.

All of the Toxicites were down by now, and the seven Stellar Rangers closed in on their opposites again. Elandra had tackled a Toxicite, and was trying to force some of the black stuff into a vial before he was teleported away. She didn't manage it, and punched the ground in frustration.

Monster Blue somersaulted over James's back and slammed the hilt of his sword into his opponent's head, and James crumpled. Before the evil Ranger could do anything else, Rex seized him by the elbow and swung him around, slashing him across the chest with his sword. Rachel managed to match the speed of the Yellow Monster Ranger's meteor hammer, grabbed it out of the air and yanked her opponent off-balance. Kaiden caught his opposite, swung her around and threw her to the ground, slamming a fist into her ribcage.

The evil Black Ranger hesitated, and then charged Marco, twirling a trident as he did. Marco ducked aside at the last moment, and Tony stabbed his Martial Lance down into his opponent's back. There was a huge explosion, flinging both Stellar Rangers away, and when it cleared the evil Ranger was lying flat on his stomach, unmorphed. A patch on the back of his jumpsuit smoldered, and he coughed painfully. Surprisingly, he looked human.

Then, as with all the other battles, the evil Rangers teleported away. The Stellar Rangers stopped where they were and caught their breath. Tony had the misfortune to inhale as the wind changed, and got a mouthful of smoke, which he spent the next few minutes hacking out. James sat up, holding his head and looking annoyed.

"Great! We finally demorph two of them, and they escape just like before! Now we'll have to fight them next time as well!" He snapped, as Elandra scanned his head with her eye beams.

"Hey," Rex said, "We won, didn't we? We're getting better." Marco paused.

"You have a point," he said. "Well done, all of you. Maybe next time we can destroy one of the Monster Rangers. Now we clean up our mess."

Then applause broke out around the park. Most of the Rangers jumped, and realized that just outside the battle site were the citizens of Angel Grove, who'd been watching since they'd gotten out of danger. There were many raised cellphones and cameras in evidence.

"At least they approve," Kaiden said, demorphing. "And they've watched the originals. Who knows, maybe we'll get featured on YouTube."

~oOo~

Back at the base, Marco waited until the other Rangers had left the Zords, and then cleared his throat.

"I have decided to put Elandra on reserve status," he said. The others were startled for a moment, but then broke into loud protests. Only Elandra was silent, watching with a resigned, but angry expression.

"What? We need all of our Rangers!" Rex exclaimed.

"The bad guys just got a bunch of new troops! Why get rid of one of our own fighters?" Tony added.

"Are you crazy?" Kaiden asked. Marco waited until they'd quieted down.

"I should never have given her the powers in the first place," he said, "But Elandra convinced me we'd have destroyed the Weeping Angels before it became a problem. We would have, if it weren't for the Alchemist. You see, my wife is approximately three months pregnant."

There was a very, very long silence. Everyone stared at Elandra. She didn't look pregnant—well, there was a very slight bulge at her waist, now that they were paying attention. Rachel broke the silence with an excited squeal.

"Do you know what it's going to be yet?" She asked. Elandra gave her a strange look.

"It's going to be a baby," she said. Rex broke in.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" He asked. "This is important!" James shrugged and left, drawing some incredulous looks after him. The Blue Ranger muttered something about the Zords.

"Awesome! The first Ranger baby ever!" Kaiden exclaimed.

"Unless you count Bowen—but his parents weren't Rangers when they had him, so he doesn't!" Rachel said hurriedly. "When's it coming? Is there anything we can do to help out?"

"About five months, less if I keep morphing, and I'm guessing you all agree with Marco now," Elandra said, pleased at the attention but still slightly irritated.

"No way are you fighting like this— unless we really, really need you," Rachel said. Tony interrupted.

"Wait, less if you keep morphing?"

"Every time I morph, the baby develops a few days' time for the duration of the fight," Elandra said. "The reason Marco's been so worried is that I'm almost a month ahead of schedule—which is fine with me! I can tell the baby's healthy, probably going to be perfect, but Marco's nervous."

"…Understandably," Tony said.

"Rex just came up with some new Zord designs, so you can concentrate on those," Marco said. "Considering how this last fight went, we're going to need them." Mollified, Elandra went over to Rex and began discussing the Zords with him.

~oOo~

Trivia: Kaiden's line about jumping-up-and-down excited is a paraphrase of a line said by John Green in his "Harry Potter Nerds Win at Life" video. I don't actually know whether he's aware of this, but I think if there's a Nerdfighteria in the Power Rangers 'verse, then he'd want to be in it. DFTBA!


	12. Chapter 12: The Inevitable Upgrade

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, the submitted Rangers, or SSJ-Jolt's sweet Demi-Zords!

~oOo~

"Sir?" Marco turned from his book and looked to the command center's doorway, where James was standing. The Blue Ranger had been working on the Demi-Zords with Elandra, and thus was in casual, moderately battered, clothing, and there was an oil smear on his nose. "Yesterday's fight is all over the news, and the Black Monster Ranger's been positively identified." Marco stared at him. James went on. "His name's Jacob Anderson, he lived in Stone Canyon until a building allegedly collapsed on top of him during our battle with the giant mummy monster."

"Allegedly?" Marco asked.

"They never found a body. Also, there are no aliens we know about that look like the Green Ra—" Marco held up a hand.

"James," he said, "This is fascinating, but I don't think it will help us win this war." James lifted his eyebrows.

"What about knowing your enemy? Maybe they're under an evil spell."

"Rath, take a break," Marco said. "You've worked very hard lately, and now you're jumping to conclusions." James looked silently at him for a minute.

"Fine," he said, and left. Marco went back to his book.

~oOo~

Rex, Rachel, Tony and Kaiden were sparring on the third deck. They'd been at it for half an hour, and the room was getting stuffy. Kaiden and Tony were hitting their second wind at about the same time, going at it with a vengeance. Rachel and Rex circled, looking for an opening.

Rachel went for a tornado kick, and Rex caught her leg at the knee and flipped her over. Rolling as she hit the mat, Rachel popped up again and threw a few rapid punches. The first few Rex blocked, but one managed to hit him in the chest, and Rachel followed it up with a karate chop to the joint of the neck, and Rex dropped to the floor. As the Pink Ranger moved in, though, he planted a foot squarely in her stomach and threw her to the side, then pinned her with an arm.

Kaiden and Tony threw and blocked punches almost too quickly to see. Dropping to the floor, Tony swept Kaiden's legs out from under him, but the Yellow Ranger did a backflip and landed upright again. Breathing hard, Kaiden let Tony get up and charge, then crouched so the Green Ranger bounced off his back.

"You're good," Rex panted, sitting up. Rachel did likewise, pulling her damp, clinging curls out of her face. "Never assume an enemy's really down."

"How'd you get so good?" Rachel asked. Kaiden landed a solid punch in the center of Tony's chest, and the Green Ranger fell flat on his back.

"My grandfather," Rex replied. "Six hours of combat training a day since age ten." Tony pushed himself up on his elbows. Winded, Kaiden plopped down next to him and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"How come you haven't been doing this well in our fights?" Kaiden asked.

"Adjusting to the powers," Rex said. "You know how different it feels." The Yellow Ranger nodded. He combed his hair out of his face with his fingers, got up and left for the showers.

"Waitaminute—you're also building the Demi-Zords, _and _you helped design them," Rachel said.

"I've always liked giant robots and mechanics," Rex replied.

"How did you have time for all that?" The Pink Ranger asked, getting up and grabbing her water bottle.

"Six hours of study, two hours of anime and eight hours of sleep for eight years," Rex said with a shrug. "It worked itself out."

"Brilliant," Tony said, "You're the intrepid leader and the brilliant techie rolled together. All you need is the obligatory girl, and you can have your own Ranger team." Rex looked twice at him, but the Green Ranger got up and headed for the showers without another word. Looking decidedly uncomfortable, Rachel rolled up her towel and started out herself. Then the doors opened, and James only just avoided colliding with the Pink Ranger as she sprang out of the way.

"Where's Kaiden?" James asked, ignoring the annoyed "Hey!" from Rachel. The Pink Ranger muttered something under her breath and left.

"In the showers. Why do you want him, of all people?" Rex asked. James sat down on a bench and opened up his laptop.

"I just realized that Kaiden's the only person here who's seen the Alchemist in person," James said. "Maybe he noticed something important while he was captured."

"Holy—why didn't we think of that before? And why didn't he ever say anything?" Rex exclaimed. He sat down next to James, who wrinkled his nose.

"You smell like sweat," he said.

"That's because we've been sparring—unlike someone I could mention," Rex said, punching James lightly in the arm.

"The Demi-Zords aren't going to build themselves," James replied, fishing a cable out of his pocket and plugging it into the computer. After a few minutes, Kaiden came out of the shower, and Rex seized him and hauled him over, summarizing James's idea as he went.

"I don't remember how I got in or out," Kaiden said as he sat down, and James put his plugged-in ring back on his finger. "And honestly, not part of my life I'd like to relive."

"We can figure it out from what you do remember," James said, raising his hand. "Think about when you got captured." Kaiden closed his eyes, and James's ring glowed. A series of images flashed across the laptop screen, and after about a minute, James stopped. Kaiden body-shivered and pushed his chair back as James rewound the video and watched it in normal time. Rex watched over his shoulder.

The video opened to show Kaiden strapped to a metal chair so thoroughly that he couldn't even turn his head. Out of the corners of Kaiden's eyes, he saw more people in the same situation to either side. However, the Weeping Angel standing in front of him quickly took up his whole attention. Kaiden had a second of mad panic before realizing that there was a thick panel of glass between the Angel and him. His eyes were drawn to the Angel's, and they stared at each other for a long minute.

"Wait, how are we getting a third-person shot?" Tony asked, making the other three jump. "Sorry, forgot to tell you I was here."

"First-person video can't show things Kaiden experienced, but not see, and it comes out this way," James said. "Same principle as most KO-35 data discs. Elandra built it into the Ring. Now shhh."

Finally, a metal wall dropped down between the Weeping Angels and the people, and Kaiden realized he'd been holding his breath. He slumped against the restraints, heart racing, and wondered what was going on. Someone came in behind him, and Kaiden heard buckles clicking open. Then the Alchemist stepped in front of Kaiden. He was very tall, and certainly looked like a flesh-and-blood person.

"Listen carefully, Hart," the Alchemist said, "Because your life depends on what I am about to tell you. You have been infected with the image of a Weeping Angel, which grows stronger as long as your eyes are open, and it will eventually kill you unless the Power Rangers get to you first. I'm giving you this message for Stellar Corps." He paused to take a disc out of his lab coat pocket, and stuck in Kaiden's pants pocket. "Try to stay alive long enough to deliver it."

Kaiden felt the straps loosen, and then the Alchemist walked away, but instead of footsteps, Kaiden could hear a weird scraping, rustling sound as the man moved. The person freeing him undid the strap around his forehead, and he looked around to see an ugly hunchbacked man opening the last of the buckles.

"Thirty-five by forty-four by fifty-one North, one-hundred-sixteen by fifty-eight by sixteen West," the man muttered, drawing out a hypodermic and injecting something into the back of Kaiden's neck.

"Hey, what…" Kaiden's vision blurred, and then he passed out, ending the video. James opened a browser and began typing. Nobody said anything. Rachel, who had returned during the Alchemist's speech, put a hand on Kaiden's shoulder, as did Tony.

"Mind telling us what you're doing?" Rex asked.

"Those numbers were coordinates," James replied. "I think we've got another ally behind the curtain."

"Coordinates? Like, directions to the bad guys' secret base?" Kaiden asked. James nodded, a grin spreading across his face.

"Call Marco, would you?" The Blue Ranger said. Kaiden hopped over to the wall comm.

"Hey, Marco, we've got a new lead on the Monster Rangers," the Yellow Ranger said.

"No time, Rangers. We've got another attack," Marco said. James closed his laptop with a snap, and the five ran up to the command deck. Elandra joined them halfway, hands and face streaked with grease from the Demi-Zords. Just as the doors opened, there was a yell of anger and a crunch. Marco, to everyone' surprise, had just punched through a screen.

"Don't move your hand, you'll make it worse," Elandra said quickly, darting over to him. Carefully, she guided his hand out the gap, and healed the gashes carefully.

"It wouldn't focus," he said, stepping back. "I forgot how twenty-first century computers work."

"What time are you from, again?" Tony asked.

"The fifty-first century, in my universe," Marco replied, flexing his fingers. James wordlessly went to another computer and brought up the monitor.

"Surprise, surprise, Monster Rangers," Rex said. The five evil Rangers were smashing up a warehouse district, which Marco informed them was in Reefside.

"Do bad guys just hate California?" Rex asked.

"Maybe they just like guaranteed sunshine for their attacks," Kaiden said with a shrug.

"We'll take all the Zords," Marco said, "Elandra, monitor the fight. Medieval Planets, descend!"

Morphed, the six Rangers ran down to the Zord Bay. As James began to climb up the Dolphin's side, he noticed a long, white scratch along its side, and froze. When had that happened? Certainly not during the last battle—he'd done a complete check on the Dolphin Zord immediately afterwards.

Hopping down, James looked at the gash more closely. Someone's email was going to be crashed, he thought darkly, running a hand along the scratch. Then there was an electronic whine, and James looked around to see the Cheetah Zord take a step forward, then buckle and fall on its stomach. More descending wails came from the Lion Zord, whose eyes flashed like strobe lights. The Eagle took off, hovered for a minute, and then flew directly into a wall with a clang.

"What the…" James began, looking around. The Wolf and Bear Zords were already in the air, hovering just outside the Zord Bay doors, but none of the others would fly. Suddenly nervous, James climbed up into the Dolphin Zord's cockpit and tried to start her. The Zord's engine activated, coughed, sputtered and died. The radio crackled, and Marco's voice came through the heavy static.

"James…powers to connect…Rangers." It took a second for James to realize what he meant, then he shut his eyes. The others' minds were easy to find, and he quickly assessed what was going wrong and contacted Marco.

"_What do we do, Marco?"_ he asked the Black Ranger telepathically. _"Most of the Zords won't even start, and Rex says he's flying blind."_ He sensed Marco call Elandra on his still-working radio, and she suggested the Demi-Zords. James relayed the message to the others, and Rex landed the Eagle Zord tentatively, clipping the Cheetah Zord with a wingtip as he touched down.

"Okay, where are the Demi-Zords?" Rachel asked, leaping down from the Cheetah.

"One floor down," Rex said, already halfway to the door. The elevator felt interminably slow, and nobody waited for the doors to finish opening before charging out. The second Zord Bay was smaller than the first, and the final Zord—Marco's—was only half-built. Harried as they were, the Rangers couldn't help but stare at their new Zords.

They were all in animal—or vehicle, for Rex and James—mode, clearly smaller and leaner than the Stellar Zords, but still huge. They gleamed silver and their Ranger's color, and the model number was emblazoned along each one's side. Rex and James wasted no time climbing into their jet and sub Zords, respectively, but Rachel and Kaiden had never seen the Demi-Zords before.

"Wow," Rachel breathed, running a hand along her second Cheetah's flank.

"Hey, you guys get machines, and we get duplicates of our other Zords?" Kaiden asked. James paused in buckling himself in.

"Is that a problem?"

Kaiden looked up at the Zord. "No." He hoisted himself up. All of the engines rumbled to life, and the Demi-Zord Bay doors opened. Rex was the first out the door, zooming into space with a red flash. Rachel followed, overtaking and passing the Red Ranger.

"I love this!" Rachel cried. "Dash Zord, transform!" The Demi-Zord unfolded into a slim humanoid robot with a pair of jet-like wings. She zoomed around the Satellite Base once, almost too fast to see, and giggled in delight.

"We can play with the new toys later," James said, "Let's go help Marco and Tony out."

"Last one in Reefside's a rotten egg!" Kaiden said.

"You sure you want to try that?" Rachel asked. The four zoomed towards Earth.

In Reefside's warehouse district, the Bear and Wolf Zords were busy fending off the five Monster Rangers, who had wasted no time in growing giant-sized. Tony tried to deflect as many of their attacks back at them as he could, and Marco froze their joints every few seconds, but the two were still outnumbered. The Green and Blue Monster Rangers picked up the Wolf Zord and threw it into a skyscraper.

"What's taking them so long?" Tony asked, as his Zord picked itself up. The Green Ranger drew her arm back to throw a dagger, when she was peppered with lasers. As she staggered back, a red jet zoomed out of the smoke.

"Red Ranger here, you guys need a hand?" Rex's voice came over the radio.

"It'd be nice, yeah," Tony said.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Bolt Zord, transform!" The jet unfolded and rearranged itself, landing lightly on the ground. It had more jagged edges than Rachel's Zord, and held a large rifle over its shoulder. It only stood up to the Monster Rangers' chests or so, but as the Red Monster Ranger swung his mace, the Bolt Zord leaped up and over his head, blasting him with another volley of lasers. Sparking and exploding, the other Red Ranger staggered back and fell, with a final massive explosion.

"These things rock! Pride Zord, transform!" Kaiden said. The Pride Zord was more squarish than its fellows, with black chest accents over its silver-and-gold plating. "Beam Focus Knuckles!" With glowing fists, the Pride Zord flew into the Yellow Monster Ranger, throwing her back with a blinding golden flash.

Already transformed, James and Rachel came down, cutting off the Monster Rangers' escape routes. The Blue Monster Ranger twirled his sword and struck out at James, but the Stellar Ranger caught the blow on one of the bulky shields on the Typhoon Zord's arms. Twisting his arm around, the Blue Stellar Zord yanked the trident out of his opponent's grasp.

"You guys really ought to plan your attacks before starting," James said, "Positron Cannon!"

"Right there with you—Beam Claws!" Rachel called. The Dash Zord raised its hands, and the pink lasers shooting from each finger, and slashed the Blue Monster Ranger repeatedly across the chest. The Typhoon Zord's chest-mounted gun fired a blue energy ball as Rachel drew back, and the evil Ranger was flung into the ruins of an abandoned warehouse.

"Where do you come up with all these wonderful toys?" Tony asked, springing onto the Green Monster Ranger's chest and toppling her to the ground.

"Those 'Japanese cartoons,'" Rex said, with more than a hint of smugness. "Beam Gun, Saber Mode!" Whirling the sword, the Red Ranger began hacking at the Black Monster Ranger as he zoomed back and forth across the battlefield. With a cry, and spewing smoke, the Black Ranger fell, losing his Zord form as he did. Before the Stellar Rangers could react, though, he was teleported away.

"…I need to start watching those," Tony said. The Wolf Zord bit down on the Green Monster Ranger's shoulder, and she stabbed at it with her daggers. Then Kaiden dropped down beside her head, and fired a series of blasts from his head-mounted guns. There was a massive explosion, and then the Green Monster Ranger was human-sized again. Then she was gone, and the Rangers realized that they'd run out of enemies.

"When will all of the Demi-Zords be complete?" Marco asked. However, none of the others could hear him over their gleeful exclamations. "Fine. When you have regained your self-control, return to the Satellite Base," he said, taking the Bear Zord up into space.

~oOo~

Trivia: Those coordinates given are the actual (approximate) coordinates of a lake in California. I can't figure out which one because Our Googly Overlord (technically it's Our Swagbucky Overlord, but whatever) is being unhelpful, but they are genuine! I found an actual lake and the rough area it was in!


	13. Chapter 13: Breathing Space

Disclaimer: Don't own Power Rangers, don't own Doctor Who, don't own the submitted characters.

~oOo~

The tape of Kaiden's capture ended, and Marco leaned back in his chair. James and Kaiden waited impatiently for him to speak, but the Black Ranger only stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Have you pinpointed the coordinates?" Marco asked.

"Yes," James said, reaching around the Black Ranger to type for a second. A map of the area popped up, and zoomed as James moved the mouse. "We've only seen the Monster Rangers teleport in or out, so I scanned everywhere, including underground. There's something large and unidentified in the middle of this lake here." He pointed. Marco nodded, and started thinking again.

James waited, but Marco said nothing. He prodded, "Are we going to attack the Monster Rangers' base?"

"How? It's underwater, and since the Monster Rangers teleport, there probably isn't a way in we could manage while diving. If you come up with a good plan, please tell me, though," Marco said. James took his laptop, shutting it with a snap, and left. Silently, Kaiden turned back to Marco. He was sitting in his chair backwards, as usual, and though Marco had given him a raised eyebrow when he'd pulled it up, the Black Ranger had said nothing.

"Talk about a buzz kill," Kaiden said.

"What do you propose to do, then?" Marco asked, folding his hands.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe go check out the base at least," Kaiden said.

"How do we know this isn't a trap?" Marco countered, raising his eyebrows.

"I guess we don't, but if it is, it's an old trap, and springing it would be the last thing they'd expect," Kaiden said.

"It would take time to plan such an attack," Marco said. "I'll discuss it with Rex and Tony." Kaiden nodded, and rested his chin on his hands. Quietly, Marco tilted his chair on its back legs, and stared over Kaiden's shoulder at part of the wall.

"You're from the fifty-first century, right?" Kaiden asked out of the blue.

"Yes," Marco said, thrown off by the change of subject.

"Three thousand years in the future. All this—" Kaiden waved his arm around the room "—must seem pretty primitive, huh?"

"Not the Satellite Base," Marco replied. "I helped build it, and compared to your Earth, it's probably centuries ahead of its time."

"_Your _Earth," Kaiden echoed, with a grin.

"My universe is much harsher than this one, and less advanced in the early twenty-first century," Marco said. "Even so, yes, ordinary life has been…difficult to adjust to." Kaiden nodded.

"Is that why you don't want to stop being a Ranger?" He asked. "Because you don't want to go back to that?" Marco dropped his chair back on all four legs with a thud.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, his voice suddenly hard.

"I heard you tell Elandra so, a couple weeks ago. Sorry, I'm a chronic eavesdropper—I have to overhear at least one conversation every day or I go into withdrawal," Kaiden said, deadpan. Marco smiled a little, and the tension went out of his shoulders.

"To be honest, yes. I suspect that once we've fulfilled our mission, one government or another will decide to take this Base and all its technology away to study."

"But it's yours, isn't it?" Kaiden said. "You and Elandra created this place, they can't just waltz in and take it."

"Where do you think we got funding for this project?" Marco asked.

"Ah," Kaiden nodded. Then he changed the subject again. "Did you have any family in your universe?"

"When we started this conversation, I wasn't expecting a Spanish Inquisition," Marco said.

"_Nobody_ expects the Spanish Inquisition!" Kaiden cried gleefully. "Seriously, though, I'm curious."

"How about an exchange?" Marco said. "I'll talk about my family if you talk about yours. Elandra was the one who approved your application, so I don't actually know." Kaiden looked slightly crestfallen. "Come now, it can't be as bad as all that," Marco said.

"Parents divorced when I was three, my adopted older brother liked to hit me, I ran away when I was sixteen after he almost put me in the hospital, lived at East Hills Teen Center in L.A. until I got on my feet again," Kaiden listed. Marco's smile faded.

"I'm sorry. I would never have guessed," Marco said gently. Kaiden shrugged.

"It's been seven years; I've moved on. Your turn."

"I'm an only child, with relatively normal parents," Marco said. "But they didn't want me to enter the Church, my mother especially. We'd only just begun trying to reconcile when I went to the Byzantium." The two were silent for a minute. Neither had anything more to say. Then Marco got up and started to the door.

"Marco?" Kaiden called, and the Black Ranger paused. "The best way I've found to deal with bad stuff happening is perspective. Find things you can fix, instead of looking back at the stuff you can't."

"I hadn't though you capable of this much intelligence, Kaiden Hart," Marco said.

"Hey!" Kaiden protested, springing to his feet. Chuckling, Marco left.

~oOo~

"Okay, try Warrior Mode manually," Elandra said, walking around the sleek Dash Zord and scanning it up and down. She was going through all of the Demi-Zords' final tests, just to be on the safe side.

"Wait, there are manual controls? I thought it was all voice-activated," Rachel said from the cockpit.

"No, that's just until you've mastered the new powers. The Demi-Zords are small enough to be manipulated accurately with manual controls," Elandra said, scanning the Zord up and down.

"Ah. Right, then." Rachel threw a lever, and the Dash Zord reared up on its hind legs, unfolding into Warrior Mode. Elandra continued her tests, snagging a screwdriver-like object and scanning the Dash Zord.

"So, have you thought of names?" Rachel asked, as Elandra snagged the last device—which Rachel thought of as the souped-up Ipad—and began typing into it. "For the baby, I mean."

"Marco and I've talked, but we haven't agreed on any we both like. I want a Ranger name, but Marco doesn't know anything about them, but he doesn't have any ideas of his own. He doesn't want to name the baby after someone from his own world, it makes him homesick. Okay, tests show everything's up to speed, put it back into Quad Mode."

"Marco actually isn't the first Ranger to be three thousand years out of his own time," Rachel said, as the Dash Zord became a cheetah again. "Wild Force had two: Lunar Wolf Ranger Merrick, and their mentor Princess Shayla—both from three thousand years in the past."

"Which ones were Wild Force, again?" Elandra asked, as she began putting the tools away.

"Guardians of the Earth, united we roar," Rachel replied, hopping down. Nodding, Elandra closed the tool chest, sat down on it and thought.

"Yes, I like them. I'll ask Marco what he thinks of Shayla or Merrick."

"Aren't you far along enough to tell which it's going to be yet?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, but I don't want to spoil it," Elandra replied.

"_Please,_" Rachel begged, but Elandra only grinned wickedly at her. "Okay, fine. Is there anything else that needs to be done?"

"Rachel, you've done quite enough," Elandra said, getting up.

"Not if there's still something I could do for you," Rachel said. "I don't mind, really."

"You're sweet, but there's honestly nothing I can think of," Elandra said.

"You're sure?" Rachel asked.

"_Yes,_ now go relax!" Elandra said, giving Rachel a playful shove.

"I'll just put this away, then," Rachel said, hefting the tool chest. Laughing, Elandra shook her head as the Pink Ranger lugged the large box away.

"You're insane—why aren't there more people in the world like you?"

~oOo~

Rex and Tony were in the Rec Room as James came out of his quarters, the two Rangers engrossed in Teknoman. James glanced over their shoulders as he passed, and raised his eyebrows. A Zord-like robot was busily pounding a slew of giant spiders, on the outside of some spaceship.

"Why do the giant spiders explode? And why are the explosions purple?" He asked, and both Tony and Rex shh-ed him.

"We're doing research," Tony said, folding his arms.

"Research? You're watching cartoons. Admittedly well-drawn cartoons of Zord-like robots, but cartoons!" James said. Tony glared challengingly at him, but James only grinned. "Why so defensive? After all, it was Rex's idea, and whatever he says is, is, right?" Rex paused the video.

"We aren't forcing you to be here, James, just go if it's that annoying," he said. The Blue Ranger sat down on the table with a thump.

"Who said I was annoyed?" James retorted.

"Nobody needed to. We aren't blind," Tony said.

"Okay, both of you back off," Rex said, "There's nothing to fight about here."

"Who put you in charge?" James said.

"Just because you're the Red Ranger doesn't mean we automatically take orders from you," Tony added. Rex threw up his hands in frustration.

"Who's giving orders? I just want you guys to stop arguing about nothing. Seriously, stop and think about it for a minute." Still glaring, James and Tony did.

"Sorry," James said at last. "Just tense because Marco's being obtuse. He doesn't want to attack the bad guys' base, and he won't say why." Tony raised his eyebrows.

"Obtuse? You're sure you know what that word means? Forget it, I'm sorry too, and that _is_ odd. What do we actually know about the base, though?" The Green Ranger said.

"It's underwater, and big. We need to check it out first and learn more before we can plan anything," James said. "And I just figured out the Alchemist is a shapeshifter, not a hologram. I still want to know how this counts as research."

"Shows like this are where I got the Demi-Zord designs from," Rex said. "If we can learn these kinds of moves, it'll help us fight better." James shrugged, and sat down.

"Let's see it, then," he said. "Don't worry about explaining the plot or anything, I'll pick it up." With a shrug, Rex restarted the video. Leaning in to see better, James watched as a second, evil robot appeared, accused the first of treachery, and began attacking him. The battle went on for a few minutes, and then a giant spider burst through the hull of the ship and stabbed the good robot through the back with its claws.

"Have you ever considered giving this guy a manicure?" The robot managed.

"Okay, that's hardcore quipping," James said. Rex snickered. Then the wall communicator dinged.

"Monster Rangers sighted in Angel Grove," Marco said. The trio ran to the elevator and were upstairs in seconds.

"Yellow and Blue are attacking the financial district," Marco said as they arrived. "And someone called in to report the other three in Mariner Bay." Rachel and Kaiden ran in as he finished speaking.

"Should we pair off by color, then?" Rachel asked. Marco shrugged. The six Rangers lined up, their Ring-bearing fists across their chests.

"Medieval Planets, descend!" They shouted, raising their Rings and twisting their fists outward.

_James is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. The Moon halts above him, and its blue light envelops him, solidifying into his Blue Ranger suit. A ghostly version of the full Moon blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

_Rachel is standing in space, the planets whirling around her. Mercury halts above her, and its rosy light envelops her, solidifying into her Pink Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Mercury blazes out of her chest, and becomes an emblem._

_Tony is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Mars halts above him, and an emerald light envelops him, solidifying into his Green Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Mars blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

_Kaiden is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Sol halts above him, and its golden light envelops him, solidifying into his Yellow Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Sol blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

_Marco is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Saturn halts above him, and its silvery light envelops him, solidifying into his Black Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Saturn blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

Marco, Kaiden and Rachel landed their Demi-Zords around the Yellow and Blue Rangers, hemming them in.

"Did you really think you were going to get away with this?" Rachel called.

"That was not our intention, Rangers," the Yellow Ranger replied. Then the two teleported away before the Rangers could even come up with a snappy comeback.

"What?" Kaiden said. "Where'd they go?"

"I have a bad feeling about this. Elandra, close off the Satellite Base immediately and check for intruders." Then Rex's voice came over the radio.

"Our Monster Rangers left just as we were arriving. What's going on?"

"The Satellite Base is clear," Elandra said, "but someone was just here. Hurry back."

The Rangers hurried.

"Did they take anything?" Were the first words out of Marco's mouth as the Zords landed. Elandra was standing by the door, waiting for the Rangers as they piled out of the Demi-Zords.

"The blueprints to the Power Rings," Elandra replied grimly, "and James's laptop."

"What?" Several of the Rangers cried in unison, and all began asking questions at once. James pulled off his helmet.

"My laptop?" He repeated. Elandra nodded. Tony paced across the room, thinking hard.

"The Alchemist is a shape-shifter, you said, so that's probably how he got in without being noticed and took the plans. But what for?" The Green Ranger wondered aloud.

"My laptop," James said again, incredulous. "I practically built it."

"If he knows how the Rings work, he could copy their powers-or negate them!" Rachel said.

"Nobody touches my laptop," James went on. Kaiden punched him lightly in the arm.

"Rangers to James, please respond," the Yellow Ranger said. James grabbed his wrist and swung Kaiden around into an armlock.

"_Nobody_ touches my laptop," James hissed. "No one." Rachel went to untangle the two Rangers as Rex turned to Marco.

"Now we _have_ to attack their base," Rex said, "Before they can use the plans!"

After a long minute, Marco nodded. Kaiden was rubbing his wrist and giving James a puppy-dog look, but the Blue Ranger wasn't paying attention. If the Alchemist had seen the look in James's eye right then, he might have surrendered then and there.

"Tomorrow we recon, then we can make a plan," Marco said.

"Why not today? The Zords are ready, and we've hardly overtaxed ourselves chasing the Evil Rangers around," Rex said.

"Very well. James, take the Typhoon Zord and check out the lake. Rex and I will go along in case he needs backup. Everyone else stay here, but be ready in case more Monster Rangers show up." The three ran out, and the others clustered around the monitor to watch the mission.

~oOo~

Trivia: The guys are watching the first scene of the Teknoman pilot, which I watched on SSJ-Jolt's suggestion of where Rex would start Tony in terms of anime. And it was very odd.


	14. Chapter 14: The Best Defense

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything created by anyone else.

A/N: I think I should mention Stellar Corps Gaiden, a side-story being written by SSJ-Jolt. It becomes a little bit relevant around this point—don't worry, both are self-contained, but just so you know it exists and is worth a read.

~oOo~

It was late evening when James, Marco and Rex arrived, and the lake itself only rippled a little with the wind. The Typhoon Zord slid into the water with the smallest splash James could manage, and he started scanning for the Alchemist's lair.

As he drove deeper into the shadowy water, James began to pick up something large towards the center of the lake.

"I think I've got something," he told the others through the radio, and crept further in. The object grew bigger and more defined, until James's screen showed something that could not possibly be a natural formation. Dead center in the bottom of the lake was a whitish, mushroom-shaped building with six ball-tipped spokes radiating out of the disc segment. "Bingo," James muttered. He drew in as near as he dared, and began looking for an entrance. Turned out there wasn't one.

"Stellar Corps, this is Phantom Squad Six, do you require assistance?" A strange man's voice came over the radio.

"What?" James and Marco said at the same time.

"Possibly. We think we've found the Alchemist's base," Rex said.

"We're coming in," the man replied.

"Wait, who is this?" James asked. The Typhoon Zord surfaced, and as James drew near the bank, he saw four large, green Demi-Zords land among the trees. The new Zords were shorter, with rounded edges instead of angles.

"Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson," the man said. "Of the MZ-01A Phantom Demi-Zord sixth squadron."

"I sent an extra Demi-Zord to the United Nations for mass production," Rex explained. "Just in case the Alchemist attacked too many places for us to handle at once."

"Without asking my permission?" Marco said.

"Elandra knew. Besides, it's my Zord design," Rex replied.

"Fine. James, report," Marco said.

"They don't have any outside doors—at least, none big enough for us to get through," James reported, as the Typhoon Zord surfaced. "Ideas?"

"We'll cut our way in," Rex said.

"Sure, and flood the base. I actually didn't think to waterproof my laptop, oh well," James said.

"The Alchemist's probably got something ready in case of a hull breach," Marco replied. "We cut a hole big enough to get through, take as many Zords as we can inside, collect what we came for, and get out again."

"Elandra, time for everyone else to join the party," Rex said into his radio.

"Er, we've got a complication," Elandra replied. "Two monsters attacking Reefside and Mariner Bay."

"Sounds like our kind of work," Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson said. "Captain Paris with me to Reefside, Lieutenants Marsden and Kelson to Mariner Bay."

"We appreciate this," Marco said.

"It's our job," Nicholson replied. As the others took off, though, he paused. "You're going to need something that works underwater. Here," and the Demi-Zord drew a large, chainsaw-bladed sword. Marco's Brute Zord took it, swinging it experimentally.

"Again, thank you," Marco said.

"Whatever helps put the Alchemist out of action," Captain Kelson, who had a nasal, masculine voice, said. The Phantom Demi-Zords took off. Minutes later, the Dash, Lagrange and Pride Zords landed on the shore, all in Warrior Mode.

"You know the plan? Good, dive," Marco said. The six Demi-Zords did. Underwater, they fanned out behind the Brute Zord, and followed him towards the base. Coming to a stop, the Zords stood on the wide, white disc, and Marco activated the chainsaw sword.

As Marco cut, James could feel the vibrations all the way through his Zord. Within seconds, the Brute Zord was able to toss the sheet of metal away and drop through the hole. Almost immediately, a blue-glowing substance began sealing up the gap.

"This hangar is big enough for three Demi-Zords," Marco said, holding up the sword hilt-first. "Rex and James come through here, the others cut through elsewhere." Tony took the sword. The Bolt and Typhoon Zords dropped into the shrinking gap, and waited for a minute. It sealed above their heads, and the water level dropped. Soon, the three were able to get out of their Zords.

Rex and Marco splashed through the remaining puddles, scanning the room as its fried lights flickered and died. James guessed it was a storeroom, by the metal crates they'd crushed in landing. Multicolored goop oozed out their cracks, and all three Rangers avoided those puddles. Then the far door opened, and the hunchback from Kaiden's memory stepped into the room.

"You've set off at least fifty alarms, so we don't have much time," the man said curtly. "The plans are in the main control room. Follow me, and keep to the shadows." The three followed the hunchback out of the storeroom, down a curving corridor and into an all-black computer room. Crossing the room, the hunchback began typing in a wall-mounted keypad.

"We need non-Zord connected communicators," Rex said. A section of wall slid back and away, revealing a cubbyhole with a thick folder and James's laptop inside it. James went for it, but the hunchback blocked him with an arm.

"Your teammates are currently in the hallway. It wraps all the way around the Hexagram, so they should find us quickly," the hunchback said, turning off a violet force field over the cubbyhole. Now the informant pulled out the stolen Stellar Corps tech, and James seized his laptop greedily. Marco took the folder of plans, and Rex watched the doors.

"You know," an unwelcome, but familiar, voice boomed, "When I saw the video of you giving away our coordinates to the Yellow Ranger, Fischer, I knew you were a traitor, but never thought you'd be this brazen." Rex leveled his sword at the Alchemist, as the latter stepped into the light, and Marco and James dropped into fighting stances. The old man was showing all of his teeth in a cold grin. "Surely you aren't such a fool as to think I _wouldn't notice_ you cutting holes in my roof?"

"The idea was efficiency, not subtlety," Marco replied.

"Can't argue with that, I suppose. Attack!" The five Monster Rangers leaped out from behind or under the computers, morphed and ready. Rex drew back a glowing red fist, slamming the Black Monster Ranger across the wall into an exploding panel of circuitry with one punch. James shoved his laptop into a relatively safe corner, and Marco put the plans beneath it. Then they charged.

Rex knocked aside the Red Ranger's mace and slammed a fist into his gut, throwing him into a wall. Sickle against daggers, Marco and the Green Ranger fenced their way across the room. James ran into the fight, mentally reaching out to see what the Blue Monster Ranger's next move would be. Thus, when the evil Ranger stabbed at him, James wasn't there. One solid kick to the back, and the Blue Monster Ranger fell to his knees.

The Red Ranger's mace slammed into James's side, and he staggered. Moving quickly, Fischer threw his arms around the evil Ranger and kicked him in the wrist. The mace clattered to the floor, as the Blue Monster Ranger struggled back to his feet. The Red Ranger wrested himself free, just in time for Fischer to hit him in the stomach with the mace. Then the Blue Ranger wrapped an arm around the hunchback's neck, dragging him out of the way, and shoved him against the wall face-first.

A lot of things happened at once.

The door burst open and Tony, Rachel and Kaiden charged into the room. The Blue Ranger stabbed Fischer through the back, then drew out his sword and turned away. Finally, the Alchemist drew out a handful of black pods, which turned into Toxicites as they hit the floor.

Whirling his nunchuks, James whacked his opposite's wrist, clocked him on the chin, and shoved him aside. Tony blocked as many blasts of Toxicite ooze as he could. Kaiden knocked the evil Green Ranger to her knees with a sweep of his axe, and Rachel scooped a gasping Fischer up and whisked him away. Marco had locked blades with his opposite, so James struck the evil Ranger on the head. Sparks flew, the evil Ranger collapsed, and Marco went after the Red Monster Ranger.

Rex and the Yellow Monster Ranger circled near the middle of the room.

"I've wanted to fight you for some time, Red Ranger. I can tell you've been training for years." The Yellow Ranger asked.

"Eight, specifically," Rex replied.

"Good, my first real challenge in months," the Yellow Ranger said, swinging her meteor hammer around a leg to give it momentum.

"Be careful what you wish for," Rex said with an audible grin, and deflected the meteor hammer strike off his sword blade. The Yellow Ranger spun around. Whistling, the chain wrapped around her neck and shot back at Rex. He leaned back, and the meteor hammer screamed over his head. He shot up too quickly, though, and the metal ball cracked into his helmet.

Dizzy, Rex dropped to one knee. He smacked the onrushing meteor hammer away, but the chain tangled around his hilt. The Yellow Ranger tried to yank his sword away, but instead of pulling back, Rex jumped towards her. She lost her balance, and he freed his sword with a flick. Three quick cuts across the chest, and the Yellow Ranger toppled, sparking. Resisting the urge to spin around and pose, Rex went after the Green Monster Ranger.

The Red Monster Ranger toppled, and Marco spun his sickle. James and Rex threw the Green Ranger into a wall, and she slid down it limply. Out of the corner of his eye, James saw a Toxicite grab his laptop and the Power Ring plans.

"Don't—you—_dare_!" James roared, tackling the foot soldier and dragging the stolen goods away from him. Rex grabbed an armful of Toxicites and threw them at the Alchemist, who darted away just in time. Marco seemed distracted; he kept glancing at the Alchemist, who only stared at him through the entire battle. The Rangers fought hard, but the Toxicites just kept on coming.

~oOo~

There wasn't room for two people in the Demi-Zord, so Fischer was seated sideways on Rachel's lap. The hunchback's breaths were quick and shallow. Rachel tried to stop the bleeding with Fischer's torn-off sleeves, but they were quickly soaked through with blood.

"Beam Rifle," Rachel ordered. The Dash Zord raised its arm, and fired a volley of shots into the ceiling. The Pink Ranger flinched at the gush of water, but kept shooting until she had a wide enough hole to fit the Zord through. Then she waited for the water level to rise.

"Joey," Fischer gasped, and Rachel shushed him.

"Don't try to talk, you're going to be fine," she said. "Elandra can cure anything." Fischer managed a weak smile—there was blood on his teeth—and gathered himself together.

"Blue—Ranger—Angels—in his mind," he rasped. Rachel put one of Fischer's hands over his stomach wound, and began steering the Dash Zord out one-handed.

"You can tell me later. Now keep still," Rachel said. Fischer rested his head against her shoulder, and coughed three times, convulsing. Rachel's suit was already stained bright red, and the blood began pooling on the floor. The Dash Zord broke the surface of the lake and shot into the sky. Hand shaking, Rachel turned on the radio, smearing the switch with blood.

"Elandra, I've got the informant—Fischer—but I think he's dying. Can I use Hyper Mode?"

"No," Elandra replied, "Just go as fast as you normally can. I'll meet you halfway." Nodding, Rachel flipped off the radio and pushed the accelerator. Her head smacked against the back of her seat, and the hunchback stiffened in pain.

"It'll be okay," Rachel assured Fischer. The sky darkened as the Dash Zord shot up through the atmosphere.

"I beg to differ," Fischer gasped. His head lolled forward, and his body went slack. Rachel froze. She didn't even see the Swan Zord until its claws closed around the Dash Zord's waist. The Pink Ranger jumped, and looked around wildly to see the Swan Zord lower its head to the top of her cockpit. Its beak closed around the Dash Zord's entry hatch, and Rachel heard it vacuum-seal. Elandra hadn't just been working on the Demi-Zords, apparently.

Rachel opened the hatch, and Elandra slid in, morphed. Hands glowing, the Orange Ranger touched the wound on Fischer's stomach. Rachel watched her, unconsciously holding her breath. After a tense minute, Elandra let go, shaking her head.

"He's dead," she said. "Give him to me. You need to get back to the fight." Rachel looked down at the dead man, and began to hyperventilate.

"It's my fault," she said, "If only I'd been faster, he'd have made it."

"Maybe," Elandra said, "but probably not. He's dead, there's nothing we can do about it. Give him to me and get back to the Hexagram." Rachel held Fischer up, and Elandra threw him over her shoulder in a fireman's hold. She climbed back out, and the two Zords detached. Blinking back her tears, Rachel turned the Bolt Zord around and zoomed back towards Earth.

~oOo~

Tony wove in and out of the foot soldiers, attacking each of the Monster Rangers as they started to get up. Marco and Kaiden alternately burned and froze the foot soldiers, keeping them at barely arm's length as they were pummeled with ooze. The Toxicites flipped James on his back, seizing his arms as he struggled. Tearing at the thick black ooze, Rex only got more and more ensnared.

Rachel charged back in, only for a Toxicite to tangle a line of black ooze around her neck and throw her into Tony, sending both Rangers to the floor. The Yellow Monster Ranger slammed her meteor hammer into the back of Tony's head, and he went limp, stunned. Gagging, Rachel struggled as the Toxicites began wrapping her in ooze. With a well-timed flip, James regained his footing, only for the Black Monster Ranger to slash him across the chest. As Stellar Blue fell again, Kaiden leaped forward and blasted the evil Ranger with a wave of fire.

"Distraction!" Marco gasped to Kaiden, as he froze a pair of Toxicites in place. Nodding, Kaiden concentrated, and a small white-hot lump of flame materialized above his hand. The Yellow Ranger hauled back and threw it into the ceiling, where it exploded in a blinding, enormous fireball. As everyone shielded their eyes, Marco dove between the legs of the nearest Toxicite, sprang up and seized the Alchemist. All of the Toxicites halted. The mad scientist seemed almost pleased as Marco put the sickle blade to his throat.

"Call them off!" Marco yelled. Grinning, the Alchemist snapped his fingers. The Toxicites shrank back into black pods. Rex helped a still-wobbly Tony and raspy Rachel up with either hand. The Red and Black Monster Rangers hadn't gotten up, and their teammates checked them. Clutching his chest, James let Kaiden pull him to his feet. The two teams of Rangers watched each other helplessly.

"Get out," Marco ordered.

"Not a chance," Rex retorted, swiping ooze off his visor.

"We aren't leaving you here!" Rachel added hoarsely.

"I'm not sacrificing myself, but I need you all to be in your Zords before I let go of him," Marco said. "Now grab the plans." The Rangers exchanged glances. "Now!" Marco yelled. Shakily, James retrieved his laptop and the folder. Slowly, the five Stellar Rangers walked out the door. The Blue Monster Ranger started towards them, but his Green and Yellow teammates stopped him.

Marco backed towards the doorway, keeping his grip on the Alchemist. The Stellar Rangers broke into a run, splitting off into two groups and heading for their Zords. Rex and James splashed through the goopy puddles and clambered into the Demi-Zords. The entire building shuddered as Rachel, Tony and Kaiden began blasting their way out.

"What's taking him so long?" Rex panted, looking towards the silent Brute Zord. The shaking stopped, and the only sounds were the Demi-Zords' engines.

"Maybe they got him," James replied.

"Oh, _you're_ a cheery one," Rex said.

"Just being realistic," James retorted. Then the doors slid open, and the Green and Blue Monster Rangers appeared. If Elandra had heard what Rex said at that moment, she'd have been slapping him for hours. James fired his Positron Cannon at the roof, and the rush of water threw the two evil Rangers back into the hall. The doors closed and locked automatically, and soon the storeroom was flooded. The Typhoon Zord shot out the hole, and the Bolt Zord tried to drag the unoccupied Brute Zord after, but it was too bulky. Finally, the Bolt Zord zipped into the lake alone, as the glowing film sealed the hole in the ceiling.

~oOo~

Trivia: Marco's Sentai counterpart, Ichiro Narita, actually died in this fight, sacrificing himself and the Brute Zord to help the others get out safely.


	15. Chapter 15: What Now?

Disclaimer: Power Rangers isn't mine. Neither is Doctor Who, to be on the safe side, nor my recruits.

~oOo~

"Where's Marco?" Kaiden asked, as the Red, Black and Blue Demi-Zords broke the lake's surface. The other three hovered just above tree-level, waiting for them. The sun had gone down ages ago, but the clouds obscured any moon or starlight.

"We think he's still inside. The Monster Rangers showed up and we had to leave," James said.

"What?" Tony and Rachel cried in unison. Elandra's voice came over the radio.

"Red Ranger, what happened in there?"

"We waited for Marco as ordered, but the evil Rangers came instead," Rex said. "We blasted our way out. I was unable to retrieve the Brute Zord alone. We'll get him back, Elandra, I promise."

"Return to the Satellite Base," Elandra ordered. She sounded tired. "We need to regroup."

"Acknowledged," Rex said. He sent the Bolt Zord into Jet Mode.

"So that's it?" Tony said. "We run home with our tails between our legs?"

"We retreat and come back when we have an actual chance of winning," Rex snapped. "Shut up and fly." The Bolt Zord zipped up through the sky. After a second of hesitation, the other Zords followed.

"We'd know if Marco was…destroyed, right?" Rachel asked, as they flew through the cloud layer.

"Who knows?" James said. "We don't have his Power Ring, and only one of his Zords. The Alchemist will probably tell us if he is, though. He likes to brag."

"Rachel, you got Fischer up in time, right?" Kaiden asked. Rachel said nothing for a long moment.

"No," she managed at last, voice shaking, "h-he died." The Pride Zord reached out and put a hand on the Dash Zord's shoulder, as they all flew past the crescent moon. The Satellite Base rose up in front of them, the Zord Bay doors already open.

Rex didn't even wait for the Demi-Zords to finish landing. He was halfway out before the bay doors had even finished closing. Tony was right on his heels, but the other three lagged. James just took his time, and Kaiden went to help Rachel down.

Rachel stumbled a little as she leaped to the floor, and Kaiden took her arm. The Pink Ranger swiped at the drying blood all down the front of her suit.

"You know what his last words were? I said it was going to be okay, and he l-looked at me and just said 'I beg to differ,' and then he died." She let out a slightly hysterical giggle.

"Kinda wish we'd actually known something more about him," Kaiden said, leading Rachel towards the door. "What did you do with him?" Rachel shook her head. Not really paying attention to the two, James went through the door.

"Elandra took him. I don't know what she did after that. The Dash Zord's cockpit is covered in blood," she said, stopping. "I need to clean it before it dries."

"I can do that," Kaiden offered.

"No. Thanks, I appreciate the thought and all, but I need something to do with my hands. The guys upstairs don't need me for strategy," Rachel said, with a little wry smile.

"Me either. I'd probably just annoy them," Kaiden said. Rachel really smiled now.

"Thanks, Kaiden."

~oOo~

Nothing happened for a week. The Monster Rangers didn't so much as show their faces, not one monster attacked, and the Stellar Rangers got more and more tense. Whatever the Alchemist was planning, it had to be big, otherwise he'd have attacked while they were still recovering from the battle.

It was midnight when the alarm finally sounded. The Rangers stumbled into the command center in ones and twos, blinking owlishly at the lights. There was some jostling, and Rex poked Kaiden to keep him from falling asleep against a wall. Elandra was already at the computer, as usual.

"The Monster Rangers again," the Orange Ranger said, typing. "They're on Mirinoi this time, though."

"Let's do it," Rex said, as the five lined up. Rachel pulled a half-awake Kaiden along. Tony bumped into Rex, and made a point of looking away and not apologizing, but the Red Ranger shrugged it off.

"Medieval Planets, descend!"

_ Rex is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Jupiter halts above him, and its reddish light envelops him, solidifying into his Red Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Jupiter blazes out of his chest._

_ James is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. The Moon halts above him, and its blue light envelops him, solidifying into his Blue Ranger suit. A ghostly version of the full Moon blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

_ Rachel is standing in space, the planets whirling around her. Mercury halts above her, and its rosy light envelops her, solidifying into her Pink Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Mercury blazes out of her chest, and becomes an emblem._

_ Tony is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Mars halts above him, and an emerald light envelops him, solidifying into his Green Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Mars blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

_ Kaiden is standing in space, the planets whirling around him. Sol halts above him, and its golden light envelops him, solidifying into his Yellow Ranger suit. A ghostly version of Sol blazes out of his chest, and becomes an emblem._

It was daytime on the sieged part of Mirinoi. The five Demi-Zords circled over the trees, looking for their foes. The Monster Rangers were, as usual, randomly destroying property. Touching down lightly, the Demi-Zords ringed the Zord-sized evil Rangers in. James stomped out a burning fallen tree.

"Okay, where's Marco?" Rex asked.

"Why on earth would we tell you?" The Blue Ranger asked.

"You guys do remember how this worked out last time, right?" James asked.

"We totally mopped the floor with them!" Kaiden said gleefully.

"Not this time," the Red Monster Ranger snarled, twirling his mace.

"We'll see," Rex said, drawing his Beam Sabres from the knees of the Bolt Zord.

"I'll take him," the Yellow Monster Ranger said, stepping between her Red companion and Rex.

"Again? Is this how you evil Ranger chicks say you like a guy?" Rex asked. In answer, the Yellow Ranger swung her meteor hammer, and the battle joined.

The Dash Zord caught the Blue Monster Ranger's saber with its Beam Claws, and broke free to slash him across the gut. He stumbled back, almost running into Monster Black as he caught James's Positron Cannon blasts on his trident. Spinning, the Green Monster Ranger stabbed at her opposite, who moved with the blows to lessen the impact. Rex and the Yellow Monster Ranger were fighting too hard and fast to waste breath on so much as one hi-ya! Whooping, Kaiden landed a solid punch in the Red Monster Ranger's chest, and he staggered.

The newly-formed clearing grew wider and wider as the fight raged across it. Trees collapsed, brush burst into flames, and the remnants were trampled into muck beneath the Zords. All the animals had left already, but the panicked retreat of wildlife continued in the distance.

The Red Monster Ranger was the first to fall. Kaiden drew his Beam Sabres off his back and slashed the evil Ranger up, down and across. With a massive explosion, the Red Ranger collapsed into the mud, and the Pride Zord swung around to pose. The evil Zord moved feebly for a moment, and then shrank back to human form with a red crackle of energy.

"Who says bigger is better?" Kaiden said triumphantly. Tony fired his missile tubes, and the massive green blast threw the Green Monster Ranger almost on top of her teammate. As the Blue Monster Ranger tripped over a fallen tree, Rachel lunged forward and pinned him to the ground. James and Monster Black were wrestling.

"This is getting predictable," the Pink Ranger said, and punched the evil Ranger in the face. That was when a purple laser fired from apparently nowhere, and the Dash Zord jerked. Rachel yelled something, but her radio went dead. Monster Blue shrank back down to human size and teleported away, along with his fellow fallen Rangers.

"Rachel?" Kaiden asked. The Dash Zord toppled over on its side. The Pride Zord dashed over, as something purple flashed in the air before him. "Hey, what the—" The Pride Zord was flung into a patch of still-standing trees. There was a massive explosion, and the Zord didn't get back up.

"Someone new is here?" James said. "Rangerium Lance!" The long, blue-and-silver weapon materialized in the Typhoon Zord's hand, and he swung it. The Black Monster Ranger seized the Typhoon Zord by one of its shields, and James was distracted. "Heads up, Rex!"

"Duly noted," the Red Ranger replied. He had the chain of the meteor hammer wound around his left arm, and was holding it taut as the Yellow Ranger tried to wrest it free. With his right hand, he deflected her kicks and punches. Then the sun flashed off something shiny behind Rex, and a massive spinning ring shot through the air. It sliced across the Bolt Zord's back, hit a tree, and the Yellow Ranger shoved Rex back into its path to take it on the chest. With the usual fireball, the Bolt Zord fell to its knees.

"Systems failing. Tony, shoot it or something!" Rex ordered, as static devoured his signal. The Lagrange Zord drew its glock pistols and blasted the Yellow Monster Ranger out of the way. The ring—a chakram—appeared again, and bounced off Tony's quickly-gathered shield with a green flash.

"James, duck," Tony said. Raising the glocks sideways, the Lagrange Zord turned a full circle, shooting the entire time. Down out of the sky dropped a brand-new Zord, landing in the clearing with a boom. It was a purple Monster Ranger, in Zord form. Tony leveled on him. Green lasers flashed against its hull, but nothing exploded or even sparked. The Zord ripped its sword free from Tony's grip, and reaching up, caught the chakram as it flew past.

"Oh no," James said, as the Typhoon Zord climbed to its feet again. Then the Black Monster Ranger's thrown trident hit it in the back. Sparking, the Demi-Zord staggered forward and fell to one knee. The back of James's cockpit was torn open, and he ducked to avoid the giant prongs of the trident as it was pulled out. The evil Ranger stomped away.

"Seconded," Tony said. The new Monster Ranger threw the chakram, which cut through trees and zinged off boulders with flurries of sparks. Tony raised his shield again, but the ring bounced off and hit the Typhoon Zord in the side, which collapsed. Then the Black Monster Ranger's trident struck the Lagrange Zord in the chest. Wrapping her meteor hammer chain around the Demi-Zord's neck, the Yellow Ranger dragged it to the ground. The evil Black Ranger whacked the Lagrange Zord a few more times for good measure, then turned to the Purple Monster Ranger.

"Well done. Power down to return to the Hexagram," the Purple Ranger—a man—rumbled. The other two Rangers shrank and vanished. The Purple Ranger looked over all five fallen Demi-Zords. "The Alchemist will contact you later. Be ready." And he vanished.

"Is everyone okay?" James asked telepathically, climbing up the side of his chair.

"I'm dizzy, lost my fine motor skills, there's a ringing noise in my ears, and I think I'm going to be sick. That's a concussion, right?" Rachel asked. She was trying to get the hatch open, but she kept missing the release button.

"Pride Zord I dunno, it's still kind of smoking, but I think I've broken something," Kaiden moaned, doubled over on his side in the cockpit. "And the door won't open."

"I'm okay, but I don't think the Bolt Zord's going to fly," Rex said.

"I can't even get the Lagrange Zord up, much less fly all the way back to the Satellite Base," Tony said, unbuckling and pushing the cracked hatch open.

"Elandra? Can you send the Stellar Zords?" James asked. Elandra had been monitoring the fight, but now she was running to the Zord Bay, pulling on her jacket. She could only get the first three buttons done, though.

"We're on our way," she said, "Medieval planets, descend!"

James jumped out of the Typhoon Zord, landed on his foot wrong and limped across to the Bolt Zord. Rex met him halfway, favoring his left side, and gestured to the Pride Zord. He headed to help Rachel out. Breathing hard and cradling his left arm, Tony was already crossing to the Dash Zord.

"You okay?" Rex asked, as they met up by the Dash Zord's leg.

"I'm fine," Tony snapped, and promptly slipped in the mud and fell on his face. He shoved away Rex's proffered hand, and stood up. James pushed on the Pride Zord's blackened hatch, and tapped on it to get Kaiden's attention.

"Try the automatic release," he shouted.

"Which thingie?" Kaiden retorted. James rolled his eyes.

"The green button next to the bunch of levers," he replied. After a second, the door popped open.

"Where are we?" Rachel asked, as the Red and Green Rangers started forcing the hatch open. Rex summoned a little power from his Ring and threw the hatch up. Tony reached in for Rachel, who recoiled from him. "You're covered in mud!"

"So is everything else," Tony replied, and began pulling her out.

"You're angry," Rachel said, and looked over at Rex. "Why don't you ever shave?"

"You're concussed," Tony said, "Please shut up."

One hand on her head, the other moving to her stomach, Rachel slumped against a fallen tree. "I'm going to be sick." Tony pulled her helmet off, and Rex took a quick look around the Dash Zord's interior. Nothing looked badly damaged—but until Rachel was capable of flying it, it was about as useful as a heap of scrap metal.

The sky darkened, and all five Rangers looked up to see their original, huge Zords drop out of the clouds. Each hovered over the Demi-Zord of its own color, and seized it with claws or talons or fins. The Swan Zord landed in the middle and Elandra, morphed, ran out to the gathering team. It only took a few seconds for her to scan and heal her teammates, but she paused at Rachel.

"Remind me to check out your bone structure later, Rachel," the Orange Ranger said, pulling the Pink Ranger to her feet. "Let's get back to the Base."

~oOo~

Trivia: Wakusei Orange stayed out of most of the fights because her morpher was damaged in combat and she had a limited number of morphs left. She and Wakusei Black were not married-Ichiro was about the same age as the others, while she was in her thirties.


	16. Chapter 16: Various Revelations

Disclaimer: Don't own Power Rangers, don't own Doctor Who.

~oOo~

The Rangers were in the command center. Elandra was going through the ship's files, James trying to sequence something he refused to talk about, Rex and Tony discussing strategy and Kaiden and Rachel playing paper-scissors-rock in the corner.

"But where did this White Ranger guy come from?" Tony exclaimed, "And what's happened to Marco? Oh, no…" Tony trailed off, as he connected the dots. Rex slammed his fist into the wall, which clanged hollowly.

"Evil clone, evil spell, mind control," James recited, slowly spinning his chair in circles. Pacing back and forth across the room, Tony chewed a knuckle until it bled. Rex went to a computer, and not sitting down, began searching for something.

"Hah! Ten in a row!" Kaiden cried.

"You're cheating," Rachel snapped.

"No, you're just predictable," Kaiden said. Rolling her eyes, Rachel got up and started for the door.

"Stay here," Elandra said without looking around. "This concerns you." With an irritated huff, Rachel plopped back in the chair. "And I think…yes! Got it! Rachel, do you ever shapeshift into an animal?"

"Okay, what?" Rachel said, getting up. "No, of course not! Sometimes when I get really, really scared, I have this weird dream, but…" Elandra spun her chair around slowly, hands folded and resting on her stomach.

"Who told you it was a dream?" She asked.

"What else could it be?" Rachel laughed incredulously. Rex interrupted.

"I'm picking up mixed energy signals from the Hexagram. James—" But the Blue Ranger was pushing him out of the way before he'd finished speaking.

"Well, actual shapeshifting. You're adopted, correct?" Elandra asked.

"Ye-es," Rachel said uncertainly. "My parents adopted me from an orphanage when I was a baby. Where are you going with this?" Elandra stood up, with a little difficulty. Her pregnancy was really starting to show.

"Brace yourself, Rachel Karen Lee. You aren't human—oh, you're very close, only a trained eye would notice all the little abnormalities. The lighter, more fragile bones, the extra-flexible joints, all the little traits that go with a single-form shapeshifter. With yours, I'd say a bird, right?"

"A-an eagle," Rachel stammered. Rex glanced over with raised eyebrows. Elandra amended her statement.

"Well, they'd be abnormalities if you were a human. For someone from the planet Phaedos, they'd be perfectly normal."

"Phaedos?" Both Kaiden and Rachel asked at once. The Pink Ranger looked torn between incredulous laughter and as if something massive was finally starting to make sense. Kaiden was just weirded out.

"Stop, back up, what are you talking about?" Tony said, putting up both hands.

"I'm trying; this isn't easy for me either!" Elandra said. "A very long time ago, there was a massive war on Phaedos. Most of those too young to fight were sent away to other planets, kept in stasis until they arrived, and raised by the people who found them. Some never find out what they really are, even once they gain their shapeshifting abilities in early adulthood."

"Dude, you're like Superman or something! Awesome!" Kaiden exclaimed.

"You don't call girls 'dude,'" Tony said, frowning. Kaiden just shook his head. Staring at nothing, Rachel tucked her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around them.

"Are you going to have a meltdown or something? Because you guys are being really distracting," James said over his shoulder.

"There's this new invention I heard about, it's called 'tact,' you may want to look into it," Rex said, giving the Blue Ranger's chair a shove. James stopped the spinning with a foot, and glared balefully at the Red Ranger.

"I'm trying to find a way to save Marco. There are five other decks she can flip out in, and I can't take this computer anywhere," he said, and went back to work.

"It's okay," Rachel said, trying to hide the quaver in her voice. She got up. "I'll be in the oxygen plant, if anyone needs me."

The doors slid closed after Rachel, and awkward silence prevailed.

"You're not going to follow her?" Tony asked Kaiden. "Isn't that what you do?"

"I can tell when someone needs to be alone," Kaiden replied, for once without a shred of humor.

"Then why don't you ever leave me alone?" James asked.

"Dude, 'need' and 'want' aren't the same thing," Kaiden called. "And with you, they're opposite." With a growl, James turned back to the computer. He punched the desk in frustration. "No! I lost it! They've shielded the Brute Zord!" Now Kaiden left.

~oOo~

Later that night, Elandra heard the command center door hiss open. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw Tony standing there. Saving her project, she turned towards him.

"What is it?" She asked. Tony sat down in a chair, looking pensive and nervous. He was twisting his Power Ring around.

"I'm not sure I can do this," he said at last. Elandra got up and walked over to Tony, sitting down next to him. "I mean, being a Power Ranger," Tony said, staring at his hands. "You're a scientist from KO-35, James is the computer genius, Kaiden's sister was one of the originals, Rex can do pretty much everything, and now Rachel is a shapeshifting alien. Me? I'm a kid from the Midwest. I don't have great fighting skills, I'm not a genius, and I have no superpowers. Why did you guys pick me in the first place?" He turned and met Elandra's eye. The Orange Ranger didn't hesitate.

"Because you're quick," Elandra replied. "You see what needs to be done and find a way to do it. And Rachel can tell you there have been many less qualified Rangers, and they all did wonderfully. We need you, especially right now."

"I know," Tony said. "I wasn't going to quit now, not with the White Ranger showing up, I know we don't have time to train a replacement. But I've been in over my head from the beginning."

"We're all in over our heads," Elandra said, "If that makes you feel any better."

"No, it really doesn't," Tony replied, but chuckled anyway. "What were you doing over there?"

"Working on a new toy," Elandra said, and went back to the computer. Tony followed her.

"Do you mind if I watch over your shoulder?" He asked. Elandra brought the image back up; a Demi-Zord in Warrior Mode.

"Thank you for asking and I don't," Elandra replied. Tony squinted at the image.

"That Hyper Mode thing you mentioned?" He asked.

"Yes," Elandra said, typing. "Rex has been testing his. The rest of you need to get started." A wry half-smile crossed Tony's face.

"Figures," he muttered.

"Pardon?" Elandra asked, glancing askance at the Green Ranger.

"Nothing," Tony said. Elandra stared at him. Tony shrugged, arms akimbo. "Look, I've done enough sharing for tonight, please drop it!" Rolling her eyes, Elandra went back to work.

~oOo~

"Rangers, get up here. The Alchemist is calling live." The Stellar Rangers dropped what they were doing and bolted up to the command center. It had been a week since the Purple Ranger's appearance, and like before, the Alchemist had done nothing. Elandra slid her chair back so they could all see, as they gathered around the monitor. The Alchemist grinned at them.

"What do you want?" Rex asked.

"I'm in a generous mood today, Stellar Corps. I've decided to bring you out of the dark on something very important: I don't exist. There is no Alchemist, only a morphological being named Ivan Ooze, and your very own Marco." And the Alchemist's features shifted and hardened into Marco's face. Rachel stifled a shriek of surprise, and both Rex and Kaiden knocked their chairs over leaping out of them. Raising an eyebrow, James leaned forward, rested his elbows on his legs, and began to think hard. Elandra and Tony only stared.

"Ivan Ooze?" Rachel demanded.

"You've heard of him? Good, that should keep him happy for the rest of the day," Marco said.

"Come on, you're obviously a fake," Tony protested. "You're a shapeshifter; you can look like whoever you want."

"Test me," Marco said.

"Who was the last person you spoke to in your home universe?" Elandra asked.

"Amelia Pond. If our child is a girl, Amelia will be her middle name," Marco replied coolly. "Although it's a boy, by the way."

"It's him," Elandra said. Despite the gravity of the situation, Rachel couldn't prevent a little excited squeal, though she blushed when her teammates looked at her.

"Okay, why?" James asked, sitting up.

"A unique offer," Marco said. "A way home." Frowning, James got up and moved to a different computer.

"Hold that thought," he said over his shoulder.

"That bad here, huh?" Kaiden asked, folding his arms.

"Yes," Marco said. Rex shoved his chair back and began pacing across the room, muttering suspiciously under his breath. Elandra was too distracted to notice, though.

"Mind control," Elandra said. "Has to be. James, can you—"

"No," James replied, still typing. "You know that. Shut up, I've got something big here."

"I'm not going to abandon you, Elandra," Marco said.

"Instead, you're going to drag me and our child into a universe you've told me many times is much harsher than this one, where we don't have powers? Your logic is stunning," Elandra said.

"Wait!" James shouted, making everyone jump. He darted back to Marco on the screen. "Marco, when your men came through the Crack, you couldn't remember them, right?"

"Right," Marco said, furrowing his brow. "Where are—"

"That's because, as they went through the Crack, they were erased from history," James rushed on. "They didn't just disappear, they never existed at all. And when you went through yourself, you got erased too." Marco's expression slackened as he put the pieces together. Grinning, James continued. "If you go back now, nobody will recognize you, because you were never even born. Ivan Ooze has nothing to give you."

Convulsively, Marco switched off the computer. The Stellar Rangers stared at the black screen for almost a full minute. They all wondered the same thing—James peeked, so he knew it _was _the same thing—had Marco gone back to their side?

"We should go help him," Kaiden said, getting up.

"I'm coming too," Elandra said, hoisting herself out of the chair. "At least I can heal you and send you back into the fight," she added, as Kaiden, Tony and Rachel opened their mouths to protest. "And I don't want a repeat of what happened to Fischer, so shut up and let's go." Rex was the first one out the door.

It was a muggy, already-hot June morning at the Hexagram's lake when the Rangers arrived. Elandra landed nearby, just outside firing range. The five original Monster Rangers were standing on a ledge overlooking the lake, and as the Demi-Zords landed around them, they put their left hands on their belt buckles and raised their rights.

"By the power and force of lightning, make us grow! Revenge mode!" They shouted. Multicolored lightning exploded around them, and they grew giant-sized in seconds. However, their armor was silver and spikier this time, streaked with lightning bolts of their Ranger colors. They all drew massive silver guns and leveled them at the Demi-Zords.

Tony's shield deflected the green blast, and Rachel was able to evade the Blue Ranger's attack, but the rest weren't so lucky. With a thunderous boom, the Typhoon Zord was flung backwards into the lake. The Black Ranger dove after him, tackling him under the surface. Rex fired his Beam Launchers, and one missile actually impacted the incoming shot, but the blast still sent both Red Zords reeling. The Pride Zord crashed backwards through the trees, smashing a trail twenty yards long before it stopped.

The Swan Zord leaped between the two Yellow Zords, and an orange beam shot out of its eyes towards the Demi-Zord. All of the evil Rangers raised their guns, and transformed them into swords, axes and spears with a few quick gestures.

"Kaiden, I'm stabilizing the Pride Zord's systems temporarily so you can fight," Elandra said quickly. The Yellow Monster Ranger fired at the Swan Zord, but Elandra raised its wings to block them. The shots only sent her back a few paces.

"James, are you all right?" She asked. The lake's surface roiled as if there was a hurricane. Bits of the two Zords kept appearing in the chaos, but not long enough to even tell which it belonged to.

"Hard—to—say," James managed. The Pride Zord regained its feet, and somersaulted over the Swan to attack its opposite.

"Beam Focus Knuckles!" Kaiden shouted, and slammed fists-first into the evil Yellow Ranger. But his punch passed right through her with a spray of sand, and as the Pride Zord hit the ground, the evil Ranger collapsed into a huge mound of sliding sand. Then she re-formed behind the Pride Zord, seizing it and pinning its arms behind it.

"Woah, they've learned some new tricks, guys!" Kaiden shouted.

"No kidding!" Tony cried, as the evil Green Ranger seized the Lagrange Zord by the upper arms and hoisted it in the air. Running past, Rachel punched the evil Ranger across the head, but the pause gave the Blue Ranger enough time to tackle her to the ground. He transformed as they landed, becoming a massive, blue wolf Zord.

"Get back up here and fight, will you?" Rex yelled in frustration, firing a volley from his head-mounted Gatling guns. The Red Monster Ranger was halfway down the side of the cliff, neatly avoiding all of Rex's shots and laughing. With a growl, Rex turned to help Tony. Then the evil Ranger's mace came down on the back of his helmet, and the Bolt Zord staggered.

The Swan Zord seized the lupine Blue Monster Ranger by the shoulders, and began dragging him away from the Dash Zord. The Pink Ranger's battered Zord clambered to its feet, as the Blue Ranger turned on the Swan and began tearing at it with its teeth and claws. Sparks flew, and the Swan Zord struck at its attacker with beak and wings, but the evil Ranger was in a berserk rage and barely noticed.

Tony managed to kick the evil Green Ranger in the gut, and her grip loosened long enough for him to draw his Glocks from the Zord's hip holsters. The Monster Ranger was blasted off her feet, and the Lagrange Zord landed on its feet with a thump.

"They're too strong," Tony shouted, charging towards Rex and his opponent—now the Yellow Monster Ranger, who'd switched places with her Red teammate. Now Kaiden was trying to scorch the evil Red Ranger into the open without starting a forest fire. The Quad Mode Dash Zord finally clawed the Blue Ranger enough to make him leave Elandra and start attacking her. The smoking, burning Swan Zord managed to get on its feet again.

"We are_ not_ running!" Rex said, slashing at the Yellow Monster Ranger and locking his Beam Saber with her transformed sword-gun. James blasted out of the water, pulling free of the evil Black Ranger's grip and shooting down at him.

"We don't have a choice!" Tony protested. "Marco isn't here anyway; we're just going to get clobbered if we keep this up!" The Monster Ranger dissolved into sand just as Tony fired, and the lasers hit the Bolt Zord in the chest. The cockpit hatch shattered, and the Zord fell to one knee.

"Retreat," Elandra ordered. "Now, while we still can." The Bolt Zord hesitated, but then shot up into the air with the rest. The evil Rangers didn't seem all that interested in pursuit, gathering back together in a clump as the Demi-Zords vanished into the wild blue yonder. Nobody said anything, but the tension thrummed almost audibly between the teammates.

~oOo~

Trivia: It took me ages to decide what Marco/the Alchemist actually was. At first the Alchemist was a hologram controlled by Marco. Then Marco was only under duress and the Alchemist was a blatant ripoff of Prisoner Zero from Doctor who-a shapeshifting, snaky thing. Then...this happened.


	17. Chapter 17: Line Crossed

Disclaimer: Don't own Power Rangers or the submitted characters. Is there an abbreviation/nickname for those?

~oOo~

"Again. We abandoned Marco again," Rex muttered. He ripped a burnt-out panel of circuits out of the Dash Zord with a violent jerk. Tony was the only other one in the Zord bay, both repairing the Zords—still! This was their fifth day of work, though part of the slowness was because Kaiden and Rachel barely knew which end of a screwdriver to use. Elandra and James were working on new projects in the command center, and Kaiden and Rachel were sparring one floor down.

"We didn't have a choice," Tony said. "We would have been captured—or even killed! What good would that have done Marco?"

"If one of us had gotten past the Monster Rangers, he could have rescued Marco while the rest kept them busy!" Rex retorted.

"Sure, and gotten mobbed by Toxicites. Any other bright ideas?" Tony snapped, rolling around to look at the Red Ranger.

"What's gotten into you?" Rex demanded, sliding out from beneath the Bolt Zord and springing to his feet. He ran over and pulled Tony to his feet, looking him in the eye. "You've been cranky and insubordinate for weeks, mostly with me. What's your problem?"

Tony grabbed Rex's wrists and forced his hands off, then straightened his jacket with an angry jerk.

"You couldn't just say that from where you were, could you?" He said. "How's this: Elandra's senior Ranger, she should be the one ordering us around. You just take charge because you're the Red Ranger." Tony folded his arms and glared at the Red Ranger. Rex threw up his hands.

"Why now?" He asked the ceiling. Looking back down, he carefully measured his next words. "Tony, I don't just take charge. Marco and Elandra let me run situations they knows I'm the best at."

"Which happens to be everything," Tony interrupted. He ticked Rex's talents off on his fingers. "You're the best fighter, the best pilot, a tech genius, and you basically set the UN up with a whole new set of weapons that _you_ created. Basically, the rest of us are just cannon fodder to keep the bad guys busy until you pound them, single-handed!"

"Stop whining and think," Rex snapped. He punctuated his next four words with pokes to Tony's chest. "We. Are. A. Team! How many times were we all needed to defeat the bad guys?"

"And modest, of course. You know what, fine!" Tony said, yanking off his Power Ring. He grabbed Rex's wrist and shoved the Ring into his hand. "Do it yourself! We destroyed the Weeping Angels; it'd take you what, five seconds to wire the Demi-Zords for remote control. Or you could just use your UN buddies."

Rex looked down at the ring, closed his fist, and delivered a solid right hook to Tony's jaw. The Green Ranger fell back into his Zord, but leaped back up and dropped into a fighting stance. Rex tossed both his and Tony's Power Rings aside, along with a large knife from seemingly out of nowhere, and the two circled for an opening.

Elandra, Kaiden and Rachel ran into the room, and stared at their battling comrades in bewilderment. Tony ducked under a karate chop and landed a solid kick to Rex's gut. The Red Ranger hit the floor, sweeping Tony's legs out from under him as he did.

"Stop them!" Elandra yelled, and the other two dove in. They came up with Kaiden pinning Rex's arms behind him and Rachel holding Tony in a headlock. Rex had a split lip, Tony would have a magnificent black eye later, and they were both still furious.

"Let go!" Rex roared, ducking and flipping Kaiden over his back. The Yellow Ranger slammed into the Dash Zord with a solid thump and crumpled, stunned. Snapping his head back, Tony backwards head-butted Rachel and lunged at Rex. The Red Ranger grabbed Tony's wrists and threw him over his shoulder, slamming Tony into an exposed computer panel on the Pride Zord. The shower of sparks scorched both Rangers, but neither flinched. Quickly, the Green Ranger ripped a chunk of scorched metal free and struck Rex across the face. The Red Ranger stumbled, and Tony slithered out of his grasp.

Still holding the piece of jagged metal, Tony backed away from his opponent.

"You sure you want to go there?" Rex asked, grinning ferally. Lots of little cuts bled down the right side of his face where Tony had hit him. Tony threw the ersatz weapon away and clenched his fists.

"Against Ranger rules to escalate a fight," he said, circling.

"Guys, please stop," Rachel begged, trying to staunch her nosebleed. Dizzily, Kaiden sat up, and scrambled back out of the way.

"James, where are you?" Elandra yelled into the wall communicator. Tony charged, and Rex caught his oncoming punch. Locked together, the pair glared at each other, blinking sweat out of their eyes and panting.

"Rex and Tony, stop now before I have to make you," Elandra ordered. Neither even glanced her way. Tony broke the lock, punching at Rex's stomach, but the Red Ranger deflected it. He turned the block into a kick, sending his opponent to his knees. Moving almost too quickly to see, Rex seized Tony by the collar, flipped him on his back, and knelt on his chest. They stared at each other, completely winded. They were both sweaty, covered with little burns, and had utterly destroyed each other's uniforms.

The doors slid open, and Elandra seized the oncoming James by the collar, dragging him inside.

"Knock them out. If you can read minds, you can crash them," she said, "Now!" James held his hand out towards the two, and it glowed blue. Rex tried to get up, but fell over on his side. Tony went limp. Everyone just breathed again for a minute.

"Now what?" Kaiden asked, rubbing the back of his head. Elandra started scanning Rex and Tony for serious injuries. She brought the swelling down on Tony's eye, and fixed a long abrasion on Rex's arm. As she stared up at the ceiling, holding her nose, Rachel thought.

"Usually, when Rangers have trouble working together, their mentor forces them to be around each other until they get it," she said. Elandra's eyes lit up, as she healed the nosebleed.

"I've got an idea," she said. "Thank you, Rachel."

As the four Rangers dragged their unconscious teammates down to the Rec Room on Elandra's orders, Rachel tapped Elandra on the shoulder.

"What?" The Orange Ranger asked.

"You said I got sent to Earth in a spaceship, right? I'd like to go find it, if it's not too much trouble," Rachel said.

"Certainly—you might even find something that can help us there. Just be on your guard for Monster Rangers," Elandra said.

"I'd like to go along. You might need help with the technology," James piped in.

"Good idea," Rachel said with a laugh.

~oOo~

Tony woke up aching all over, and looked up to see Elandra sitting on the table. For a minute, he didn't remember what had happened, then it all came back. Wincing, Tony looked around. He was lying next to one wall of the Rec Room, and as he sat up, Tony realized he was fettered to that wall by an ankle.

"Hey!" Tony shouted. "What is this?"

"It's a manacle attached to a chain attached to a wall," Elandra replied. "Surely you've heard of them."

"Seriously, what is this?" Tony asked, starting to get nervous.

"Tough love," Elandra said. "I'll explain when Rex comes around; I don't like having to tell people things twice." There was a groan on the other side of the room, and Elandra looked over. "That'd be him now."

Tony heard the Red Ranger mutter something, and then another chain clanking. Rex started to shout angrily, but interrupted himself as he saw Elandra. She smiled.

"Good, you're both awake. Now, the reason you're chained to the wall is because we can't have a repeat of last night. You're a danger to the team, and we don't need that right now. Catch," she said, and tossed each one a key. Tony caught his, sensing where this was going. Rex quickly discovered that his key didn't fit.

"You've each got each other's key," Elandra said. "Now work it out. Good-bye." And she slid off the table and walked out. Tony slumped against the wall with a groan.

"Tony, on the count of three," Rex began, but Tony cut him off.

"You and I both know that isn't going to work. There's no way I'm throwing you the key, and I bet you won't give me mine either."

"You're right," Rex said grudgingly. Neither spoke for a while. The engines thrummed softly.

"Basically, I'm sick of living in your shadow. There, I said it," Tony said. "Your turn."

"I'm trying to keep this team together, and Elandra's letting me do it by giving orders," Rex said. "This isn't the time to try and be independent."

"I know, and sorry for bringing it up now, but really, did you need to attack me to make your point?" Tony asked.

"I lost my head," Rex said, and Tony snorted.

"I hope you never get turned evil, because then we're all doomed," Tony said.

"Hey, you didn't do so bad yourself," Rex said. "If you ever cut loose on the Monster Rangers the way you did back there, we'd have them beaten in minutes."

"You're not just trying to butter me up and get your key, are you?" Tony asked.

"Maybe a little," Rex admitted, "But seriously, for someone with as little fighting experience as you, that wasn't half bad. Oh, and don't try to be me—there's only one me, you'll do much better if you be you."

"Catch," Tony said, and tossed his key. He saw Rex's arm come up from behind the table and snag the key out of midair.

"Back at ya," Rex said, throwing the other key. Grinning, Tony caught it and unlocked the manacle.

The two Rangers ran back to the command center, where the other Rangers were gathered. Elandra was working at her computer, alone.

"That was quick," she said, standing up straight. "Rachel and James have gone to find the spaceship she came to Earth in. I don't know where Kaiden is."

~oOo~

"This is where the records said they found me," Rachel said, looking out the windshield at the starlit Arizona desert. She and James had taken the Cheetah Zord, while the Demi-Zords were still under repair, and gone to the orphanage the Lees had adopted Rachel from. After a bit of sidetracked conversation with the matron, the Rangers had finally been allowed to look in the records, and figured out that Rachel had been found by a couple of passing tourists in this part of the desert.

"I'm scanning for alien technology," James said, pushing a few buttons. Rachel looked out across the dunes, and absently began tapping her fingers on the console. "Stop that," James said, and she did, a little embarrassed. His screen began to blink. "Found it. Let's go," he said.

They took off, and soon a dark blip appeared on the horizon. They drew nearer, but it only got a little bigger. Soon the Rangers were nearly on top of it, and all it looked like was a large piece of black glass buried in the sand. It was cracked as well.

"Are you sure that's it?" Rachel asked.

"Yes. It's buried," James said. "Blow the sand away."

"Blow—oh, right," Rachel said, and threw a lever. The Cheetah Zord zoomed into superspeed, and began racing around the black splotch. Sand flew everywhere, forming into a little cyclone as they zoomed in circles.

"That's enough," James said, and Rachel eased off the accelerator. Popping the hatch, Rachel climbed out of the Cheetah Zord and hopped to the ground. James landed beside her as she stared.

The waning gibbous moon gleamed off an elegant, jet-shaped craft with its nose plunged into the desert. It looked as if it was made of the skeleton of some enormous animal, paneled with a scuffed black material. It was battered, scorched, and several pieces—one wing, the hatch—were broken off and sticking out of the desert. There was a crater of twinkling sand around the ship, which shattered as Rachel stepped on it: the crash had melted some of the sand into glass.

"Wow," Rachel breathed, running a hand along the ship's ribs. James was admiring the little craft too, but with a mechanic's eye. He went straight to the hatch, and began poking around. Brushing leftover sand off, picking up broken pieces to see where they fit, that sort of thing.

"Hey, come here," he called, from beside the hatch. Rachel came. "This is handprint-controlled," he said, gesturing to the very front of the battered glass dome. "You should be able to open it."

Rachel put her right hand flat on the piece of white bone, and pressed down. Nothing happened. Rachel pushed again. With a little huff of irritation, James put his hand on hers, pushed down hard and twisted.

"Hey—ow!" Rachel exclaimed, but the hatch unsealed with a hiss.

"Can't expect something to work perfectly after lying in the desert for what, twenty years?" James said, pulling the hatch up and stepping back to give Rachel room. She climbed inside, and dropped into the driver's seat of the little craft. It was barely big enough for her.

The controls were covered in a thick coat of dust, and bits of gravel rolled around the floor as Rachel's weight made the ship shift. She began wiping things off, carefully, as James started piling up all the loose chunks of machinery he could find.

"Are there any buttons in there that look like they'll make this thing reassemble? Most Ranger-related technology has at least one," James called.

"How should I know?" Rachel replied.

"Start pushing them," James suggested. With a shrug, Rachel looked over the buttons. She took note of the large red one, and reached past it to throw a lever. It squeaked rustily.

Resisting the urge to grab the squarish steering wheel and start making vrooming sounds, Rachel went through each of the buttons and switches on the panel. One made something deep in the ship's innards growl.

"I think everything's dead," Rachel shouted. James was standing on the far side of the crater, and didn't hear her. Rachel stood up. "James!" She yelled. Then the ship rumbled. Rachel looked down, and saw that her left hand was leaning on the big red button. "Oops."

"Oops?" James said, whirling around. "What did—" Rachel was already climbing out of the spaceship. All of the buttons and lights had lit up.

"I hit the big red button," she said. "That's the self-destruct, isn't it?" Panels along the ship's sides popped open, blasting sand in every direction. The chunks of metal James had gathered began flying back towards the ship, clanging into place on its sides. Violet light flowed across the ship, covering the entire thing in seconds.

"Usually—run!" James said, grabbing her arm. At superspeed, Rachel dragged her teammate back to the Cheetah Zord. There was an ascending electronic whine. The two climbed into the Zord's hatch, just as the old spaceship's glow faded.

They waited. The desert wind blew a cloud across the moon. The little spaceship didn't move. The light had faded into a black, gleaming pod that covered the entire ship.

"I think you found the self-repair button," James said at last. Rachel dropped her head into her hands with a shaky moan. He took the Cheetah Zord forward, and gently lifted the pod in its jaws. They took off into the night sky.

~oOo~

Trivia: The inspiration for Elandra's solution is in the 1950's Zorro TV series's second season finale. Zorro put the long-absent governor of Monterey and the leader of the rebellion against his corrupt subordinate's regime (don't ask, long story) in this spot, and it worked out beautifully.

A/N: I'm a little unsure about the fight. It seemed like the logical direction to go, but I'm always nervous when handling other peoples' characters in dramatic situations.


	18. Chapter 18: The Giant Claw

Disclaimer: Power Rangers, the submitted OCs, and the Demi-Zords are not mine.

~oOo~

Tony stood in the simulator, morphed and resting on his lance. Sweat dripped down his nose, his muscles ached, and he was completely winded. Rex was at the simulator's controls, out of sight.

"Ready?" The Red Ranger asked over the mike.

"As if it mattered," Tony said, standing up straight. The walls became empty space, and Tony dropped into a fighting stance. He glanced around, and the Lagrange Zord, now the same size as him, appeared off to his left. Tony raised his Martial Lance, as the Shield Bits darted out of their spaces all over the Lagrange Zord's body. They were squarish little things, and all began zipping towards him.

Tony ducked the first laser beam and deflected the next two off his lance. A third grazed his calf, and he moved his foot just in time. Swinging the lance around he shattered one Shield Bit that got too close, but in the brief opening, he felt another laser slice across his back. An alarm sounded, and the Shield Bits froze. Red words lit up on the sky.

"Subject destroyed. Simulation terminated." The Shield Bits flew back to their places, and the background returned to plain metal walls.

"Gah!" Tony ripped off his helmet and sat down on the floor with a thump. "I—can't—do—this!" He yelled in Rex's direction.

"Not if you quit," Rex retorted, coming into the simulation deck. Tony ran his hands through his damp, clinging hair.

"What time is it?" The Green Ranger asked.

"Ten hundred hours exactly," Rex said, after checking his watch.

"We've been at this for days! Up at five am, training until ten pm, no lunch and barely any breaks, and I can barely destroy one Shield Bit! I'm not going to get any better if I can't even stand up! What's the point of defeating my own Zord, anyway? How does that teach me to _use_ the Shield Bits?" He just sat and caught his breath for a minute.

"Get up," Rex ordered.

"I hate you so much," Tony said, clambering to his feet.

"Good," Rex said. "Pretend the Shield Bits are me."

"I've been _doing_ that for the last two days," Tony replied, putting his helmet back on. Rex went back to the controls. The program started back up again, and Tony took a deep breath.

"Don't concentrate on any one Shield Bit for too long," Rex said into the mike. "Keep moving."

"Right," Tony said, flipping his lance across his back. The room darkened.

The Lagrange Zord was behind him. Tony turned around as he heard the Shield Bits separate. Sweat dripped in his eyes, and he blinked it away. As the little weapons zoomed towards Tony, he jumped up and slashed one in half, using the back-sweep of the same stroke to destroy a second. He landed and backflipped as they tried to surround him.

They opened fire, and Tony twisted aside to let one Shield Bit blast another to pieces. He slid through every position and move he'd learned, listening as well as watching to find angles that let the Shield Bits take each other out. Tony smashed one right into another, and snapped his head back as a laser cut across the place his head had been.

Spinning around, Tony didn't hear any more Shield Bits, and turned on the Lagrange Zord itself. It drew its Beam Glocks, and Tony charged. Two non-continuous attacks, which he deflected or ducked as they came. With a yell, Tony slashed the Lagrange Zord's right hand off and kicked the other away. Drawing back his Martial Lance, he stabbed the Demi-Zord through the chest. It staggered and fell, Tony landing on one knee.

"Target destroyed. Simulation complete."

"Thank you," Tony said, and dropped to the floor. Pressed against the plating, he could hear his heartbeat: it actually kind of sounded like helicopter blades spinning. Weird.

"Told you so," Rex said.

"I still hate you," Tony said.

"You'll get over it. I did," Rex replied.

~oOo~

James, Rachel and Elandra were standing in the Zord Bay, looking at Rachel's new spaceship. Well, the black pod encasing her new spaceship. It had been making quiet, mechanical noises since its arrival, even rumbling occasionally. Kaiden had shown up briefly, declared the thing "cool," and left again after they wouldn't let him touch it. Rex had taken Tony away, saying something about "training," and nobody had seen either Ranger for more than a few minutes at a time for days.

"Obviously it's in a restoration cycle," Elandra said. "We won't be able to do anything with it until it's finished."

"How long will that take?" Rachel asked.

"No idea," Elandra said. "It was sitting in the desert for twenty years; obviously it's got a lot of work to do."

"My question is, what do we do with it once it's finished?" Rachel asked.

"Depends on what it does," Rex said. "James? You know anything about this sort of ship?"

Don't remember off the top of my head. Its kind hasn't been built in millennia, since Phaedos was all but destroyed."

"…Millennia?" Rachel asked weakly.

"Five or six," James replied. Rachel sat down with a thump. "One second," the Blue Ranger continued, and ran to his computer. It was propped up on the tool cabinet in the corner.

"D-does age count if you were in suspended animation?" Rachel asked. Elandra put a hand on her shoulder.

"Aha! I knew I'd seen this before," James said, carrying his laptop over. He pointed to a set of plans on the screen. "Ships like this have been discovered in bits and pieces in various places since Phaedos was destroyed. Some scientist on KO-35 actually put one back together, and but he couldn't make it work. He figured out that the controls were isomorphic."

"Iso-what?" Rachel asked.

"Isomorphic. Only one particular person, probably with the ship locked to their DNA or something, can activate it. If anyone but you had touched the ship, nothing would have happened," James said. "Thing is, the only records of activated ships are really, really old, and in alien languages. Most of the survivors of Phaedos landed and were woken up a long time ago."

Rachel shook her head and got up, dusting herself off. The ship hummed, and she managed a shaky laugh.

"Great, just great! Not only am I an alien, but a several-thousand-years-old member of an endangered species!" She said. Then she turned and ran out.

James just had time to give Elandra a bewildered look before the alarms began to go off. The Blue Ranger whirled back on his laptop.

"KO-35, four Monster Rangers—at least, four visible," he said. Elandra went to the wall communicator.

"Guys, trouble on KO-35. I know it's a bad time, just take it out on the bad guys." She turned back to James.

~oOo~

The Demi-Zords and Swan Zord landed on the outskirts of KO-35's main city. The Red, Yellow, Green and Blue Monster Rangers were waiting at the top of the steps for them, ignoring the panicking civilians.

"I'll keep an eye out for the others," Elandra said.

"Don't you guys ever quit?" Rex asked, springing out of the Bolt Zord and landing neatly on his feet.

"No," his opposite said.

"Gotta give them credit for having backbone. If I knew I was going to get pounded the way these guys are, every time they meet us, I'd hide in a closet," Kaiden said.

"Last time I think it was us who did the pounding," the Blue Ranger retorted.

"Lucky streak," Kaiden retorted.

"Enough talking," Tony said, and drew his Martial Lance.

"For once, we agree," the Yellow Monster Ranger replied. "Revenge mode!" The evil Rangers powered up with a crackle of lightning, and drew a set of blasters from their hips. The Stellar Rangers charged, ducking as their opposites fired at them.

Tony and Rex both leaped up, slamming feet-first into their opposites. Kaiden tackled his, and James and Rachel went after the Blue Ranger. Twisting around, the Yellow Monster Ranger blasted Kaiden right in the helmet, and sent him rolling away. The Green Monster Ranger only took one step back, and then raised a fist and punched Tony in the gut. He doubled over, and Rex leapfrogged over his back to take out both evil Rangers with a split kick.

"James!" Rachel called, ducking a sword strike from the Blue Monster Ranger.

"Yeah?"

"Fischer told me this guy had Weeping Angels on the brain," Rachel said, catching another blow with both Mercurial Sais.

"How? We destroyed them all?" James hit the evil Ranger in mid-back with his nunchuks.

"What makes you so sure?" Rachel asked, as the Blue Ranger broke the weapon lock and slashed at her with an angry snarl.

"Fine. Distract him for a second," James said. Rachel seized the evil Ranger in an arm-pinning hug from behind.

"Now!" She yelled, as he writhed to get free. James's hand glowed, and he touched the Blue Ranger's forehead. The evil Ranger went completely limp, and Rachel almost dropped him. James bent over his opposite.

"Guys, incoming from above," Elandra said into the radio. Rex threw his opposite back, and looked up to see the Purple and Black Monster Rangers teleport in. He muttered something.

"What was that?" Elandra asked.

"Nothing!" Rex blocked the Red Monster Ranger's mace.

"Yeah, definitely a Weeping Angel in here," James said. He'd removed the Blue Ranger's helmet, and been a little surprised at how young the Asian boy actually was. Rachel had had to rejoin the fight. "Only it's sort of see-through…"

James touched the Blue Ranger's forehead again. He started awake with a gasp, and lunged at James. Stellar Blue responded with a hard right cross and quickly sat on his enemy's chest to keep him from fighting again.

"Do as I say if you want the Weeping Angels gone," James said, and put both hands on the evil Ranger's head. The boy snapped at him, catching James's index finger. "Ow! Mictlan, hold still!"

Rachel had taken the Black Monster Ranger, and was running around him in circles, slashing him constantly. Then the Green Monster Ranger picked up Tony by the throat and threw him at the pink blur. They both fell down the stairs, and Monster Black crumpled to one knee.

Rex was hacking at his opposite, who'd climbed partway up the side of a building and was hanging on with one hand, deflecting Rex's slashes with the other. Kaiden had gotten the Yellow Monster Ranger's meteor hammer tangled around a stair rail, and was trying to pull it out of her hands. Elandra was battling the Purple Ranger. She caught his right arm, twisting it behind him and holding him for a second.

"Marco?" She gasped.

"James was right," Marco replied, and flipped Elandra over his back. She hit the ground with an oof, and rolled over. "It'd be worthless to go home to a universe where everyone I knew or loved had forgotten me. I'll settle for making sure no one forgets me in this one!" And drawing his chakram with a flick of the wrist, he hurled it around the battlefield.

The metal ring struck James across the back of the head, making him headbutt Monster Blue. Rex staggered, the side of his suit sparking. Thinking fast, Tony swung the Green Monster Ranger around to take the oncoming blow for him, and she jerked. Rachel ducked just in the nick of time. Confused, Kaiden turned around in time to get the chakram directly in the chest, throwing him down the stairs.

"Done!" James shouted, and raising his glowing hand, knocked out the Blue Ranger again. But while he was busy with that, the Green Monster Ranger threw a dagger at him, hitting his right shoulderblade. James was thrown off the Blue Ranger and rolled into a wall with a thump.

"Enough!" Marco shouted, shoving Elandra away and flipping out of her reach. He teleported away in a purple flash. The others got out of their opponents' grasp and vanished as well, leaving six battered Stellar Rangers behind.

"Well, that went better than last time," Kaiden said, flipping himself back onto his feet.

Then a shadow passed over them. The Rangers heard an unbelievably loud screech. Tony quickly tackled Rachel out of the way as a giant beak, big enough to bite a jet in half, came down where she'd been standing. It was attached to the gawkiest, largest, most insane-looking bird any of the Rangers had ever seen. It was absurdly ugly, had pointed teeth and flaring nostrils, and a mohawk of not-feathers stuck defiantly up out of the crown of its head. It was actually sitting on top of a skyscraper, reaching down towards the street with its long, knobby neck.

"What?" Kaiden exclaimed shrilly. "Really, what?" The bird drew back, and flapped its wide, ungainly wings.

"The Giant Claw," Elandra said, as the creature squawked again. "1957."

"This—is—ridiculous," Rex said.

"It can probably match the speed of the Bolt Zord," Elandra replied grimly.

"Still ridiculous," Rex retorted. Then the Giant Claw stretched out its neck and caught the Swan Zord by the throat. The Zord fired lasers from its eyes, hitting the Giant Claw in the throat and wounding it enough to escape. The Swan Zord hit the ground hard, chunks of plating torn up and punctured and spewing smoke.

"Get to the Zords," Elandra said. The Rangers didn't hesitate.

The Giant Claw took off as it saw the Demi-Zords approaching, and as Elandra had said, it was wicked fast. It disappeared into the wild blue yonder in seconds, and as the Rangers hovered, trying to scan for it, the bird dropped out of the clouds and seized the Typhoon and Pride Zords in its talons. It squeezed, and the Zords' hulls groaned.

"Someone shoot this thing for us?" James shouted.

"Working on it," Rex said, as the Bolt Zord drew its Beam Sabers. He combined them with a flash, and dove towards the Giant Claw. It swept around, and knocked Rex off-course with one huge wing. He corrected quickly, but then the Giant Claw caught him in its beak. It bit down, and explosions ripped through the Bolt Zord's hull. Fortunately, they burned the bird's tongue, and it let go with a screech.

"Why don't we get any normal monsters?" Rachel said, as she just barely avoided the Giant Claw's enormous right wing.

"We're just lucky, I guess," Rex said, landing the Bolt Zord on a nearby rooftop.

"Funny," Tony said, drawing back.

"Rachel, make it let go of James and Kaiden. Tony, get ready to use Shield Bits," Rex ordered.

"Right," the Pink Ranger said, and dove towards the bird's talons. Tony hesitated.

"Tony, believe me, you can do this," Rex said.

"I know that. But can I do it without causing a ton of collateral damage?" Tony asked.

"Bring him higher up. You'll have more room," Rex said. Rachel activated Beam Claws and began slashing at the Giant Claw's ankles. It let go of the two Zords, and they dropped towards the ground. The Dash and Bolt Zords quickly sprang out and slowed them down, and the four landed.

Tony took the Lagrange Zord for a quick loop around the Giant Claw's head, just to get its attention, and then charged straight up into the sky. He could hear the creature squawking behind him, and feel the wind from each of its wingbeats. He pulled out ahead of the creature, and turned towards it.

"Shield Bits!" He shouted, shoving the button and grabbing the controls. He heard the little projectiles detach with a series of clicks, and they flew out and swarmed the Giant Claw. It barely noticed them, tiny as they were. Tony took a deep breath.

At first it was tricky, using the levers to keep the Shield Bits moving as they fired. The Giant Claw quickly realized that the tiny bits of metal were dangerous, and began snapping at them. Soon, though, Tony got the hang of it. Black feathers flew in every direction, and the Giant Claw's angry squawks shot up to a painful level. Grinning, Tony cut off the creature's pseudo-mohawk with a flick of the wrist. Then the lasers cut through the creature's long, narrow neck in two places, and it exploded.

The blast threw the Lagrange Zord back, but Tony regained control. He summoned the Shield Bits back into their places, and once the last one had locked into place, let out a whoop. The others were just as jubilant, as he dropped back down to the city.

"That was so awesome! Why can't I do that?" Kaiden asked.

"Do you really think you could?" James retorted.

"…Not really, but still awesome!" Kaiden said.

"Thanks again, Rex," Tony said quietly. The Bolt Zord gave him a thumbs-up.

"Can we all get make it back to base?" Elandra asked. She got a chorus of 'yes's, and took off.

~oOo~

Trivia: I did not realize until now that I'd made the only one to demorph in this fight the Asian guy, which is convenient. As such, the Blue Monster Ranger's counterpart, Jiro, is the mind-controlled brother of Wakusei Pink, Ruri Eto.


	19. Chapter 19: Pyrrhic Victory

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

A/N: Yes, this is early. I shall be away from the Internet from the 14th through the 18th, so I'm uploading everything early. Legion of Monsters tomorrow.

~oOo~

When Stellar Corps arrived in the Zord Bay, they saw Rachel's ship, whole and gleaming, sitting in the corner.

Rachel leaped out of the Dash Zord with a cry of delight and dashed over. Rex and James were right on her heels. Whistling, Kaiden strolled after them, and Tony paused to help Elandra out of the Swan Zord.

"Hey!" Rachel cried, and touched one of the ship's ribs. The white bone had a scorched black crater halfway down. Then Rex pulled something off the nose of the ship. Hard-faced, he held up a data disc.

"That's why the Purple and Blue Rangers were late to the fight," James said wearily, taking the disc. Rachel was staring at the burn mark in disbelief.

"It was brand new," she said. "Well, it's five thousand years old, but it just got fixed! It's not fair!"

Then the alarms began to go off. James, already at the computer, checked it, and sighed.

"Stone Canyon," he said wearily. "All six of 'em." Rachel climbed into her new ship. Rex, James and Kaiden went to their Stellar Zords, and Tony and Elandra returned to their cockpits.

~oOo~

The Zords landed at the rock quarry outside Stone Canyon—every city they'd been to had one, even if there wasn't any good stone to be found. The six Monster Rangers stood in a line, waiting for their opposites. They didn't move as the Stellar Rangers climbed out of their Zords and faced them.

"You're here. Very well, from now onwards, no holds barred," Marco said flatly. James's eyes flashed bright blue, just for a second.

"He's serious," the Blue Ranger said. "And it's really him."

"Fine. Let's do this," Rex said, and drew his Power Sword with a scarlet flash. The two teams of Rangers charged, the Monster Rangers switching opponents as they reached the last few feet, and met with a crash. Lasers shattered, scorched or partly melted the stone around them, and smoke filled the air.

Kaiden blasted a wave of flame at the Green Monster Ranger, but she rolled and kicked him in the chest, flinging him back against the rock wall with a solid thud. James whacked each of the Red Monster Ranger's laser quarrels out of the air with his nunchuks.

"What's with you?" Rex demanded, tangling the Yellow Ranger's meteor hammer on his sword blade.

"Stellar Corps's best against the Monster Rangers' best," she hissed.

"Well, I'm flattered, but you're still going to get pounded, like every other time we've done this," Rex said with a grin. He freed his sword and swung at her, but the Yellow Ranger turned into sand and the blade passed right through her. Spinning around, the Monster Ranger feinted towards Rex's shoulder, but changed direction at the last second and hit him on the back of the head. Rex staggered, and the Yellow Ranger kicked him in the gut.

Tony flipped the Black Monster Ranger's legs out from under him and slipped out of his grasp. Swinging his lance around, he clipped him across the shoulders as he tried to rise, knocking him down again. Tony stabbed downwards at the Ranger, who caught the blow on his trident.

Rachel caught the Blue Ranger's sword between her sais, and leaned back to avoid the blade.

"We got rid of the Angels in your head, why are you still attacking us?" She demanded.

"Shut up and fight!" The evil Ranger cried, sliding his sword out of her grip and somersaulting backwards. Spinning, Rachel slashed him across the chest with five quick blows, and he fell.

"Be careful what you wish for," Rachel said, twirling her Mercurial Sais.

The fight raged back and forth, too evenly matched to tell who was winning. One Ranger would seem to gain the upper hand for a moment, only for his opponent to throw him off. The conversations faded, as both sides began to really put their backs into the fight.

"I know we don't normally do this, but can we call out the Zords now?" Kaiden yelled at Rex. He'd caught both the Green Monster Ranger's daggers with his axe.

"Good idea," the Red Ranger replied, slashing the Yellow Monster Ranger across the chest and backflipping away from her. Rachel turned and began to run towards her ship, but the Blue Ranger transformed into a wolf and clamped his jaws down on her shoulder. They both hit the ground, Rachel slashing at him as well as she could.

Tony swung the Black Monster Ranger around into the wolf, throwing him off Rachel, and hauled the Pink Ranger to her feet. Before either Monster Ranger could get back up, one of Rex's Beam Sabers came down between them and his teammates. The Monster Rangers shouted, and all grew giant-sized. Rex blasted all of them with his gatling guns before they could stomp on his teammates.

The Stellar Rangers straggled back to the Zords, Elandra pausing to heal Rachel's shoulder before entering the Swan Zord. They all took off, and began blasting the Monster Rangers with their various guns or eye lasers. The Monster Rangers followed them up into the air, still sticking to their newly-chosen opponents.

The Yellow Monster Ranger swung her meteor hammer around a leg and shot it at Rex, but the Eagle Zord shot up over her head. Swinging around, he peppered her with eye laser blasts. The Green Monster Ranger kept up a steady stream of daggers at Kaiden, who ducked, deflected and shot in turns. Silently, Elandra pursued the Purple Monster Ranger, shooting at him whenever she could.

Rachel was flying in circles around the Blue Ranger, firing violet blasts at him with guns that came out of the sides of her new ship. Tony and the Black Monster Ranger sparred quarterstaff-style, until the Black Ranger struck the Lagrange Zord across the head, knocking him back.

"Okay, enough's enough! Shield Bits!" Tony shouted, and the little weapons shot out of their places. The Black Monster Ranger backed up and twirled his trident, but he glanced nervously around at the little guns as they swarmed him.

The Shield Bits opened fire, and the Black Monster Ranger started hacking, swinging and stabbing at them. Several exploded, and others were knocked into spirals, but then a green laser sliced his trident in half. The Monster Ranger slammed the two halves at the Shield Bits on either side, just as another slid across his right arm just below the wrist. The upper half of the trident, and his hand, dropped to the ground below. Stopping, the evil Ranger looked down at his sparking stump and let out an electronic cry.

"Big mistake," the Green Ranger said. The Shield Bits continued firing, and cut through the Monster Ranger's other arm, shoulder, and legs in quick succession. There was a huge explosion just as Tony went for the kill, and when the smoke blew away, the Monster Ranger was gone.

The Green Monster Ranger let out a scream, and seized the Lion Zord by the front paws. Clenching her fists, she crushed the metal in like a pair of empty soda cans, swung him around and knocked Rachel's ship into a downward, smoking spiral.

"Rage button much?" James said, dropping the Dolphin Zord below Rachel to catch her.

"Rex, Megazord," Elandra ordered.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Rex said, as he flew over to the Swan Zord.

_The Eagle Zord's wings slot down its body and fold into legs, and its head drops into its chest. The Swan's wings become arms. Its head settles atop the torso, and slides up to reveal a silver humanoid face with fiery glowing eyes. A crossbow materializes in its right hand, and the Megazord rests it over its shoulder and poses._

"_Evening Star Megazord!"_

Tony surrounded the Blue Ranger with his Shield Bits, and then was seized from behind by the other Green Ranger. She stabbed the Lagrange Zord in the neck with one dagger, then began dragging it down and through its back. The Megazord began shooting at the Red Monster Ranger, but then Marco's chakram slashed them across the chest. The Yellow Ranger's meteor hammer wrapped around the Megazord's right arm, and she landed a kick to its back.

James dove back in, slicing through the meteor hammer chain. Then the Blue Monster Ranger seized the Dolphin Zord by the tail and swung it around, slamming it into the Megazord with a sickening crunch.

"…Ow," James managed. The Blue Ranger let go, and the Dolphin Zord dropped to the ground, nearly crashing in the rock quarry. The Megazord fell after it, Rex only just avoiding landing on top of James. The Green Monster Ranger threw the battered, sparking Lagrange Zord down next to the others.

"Well done," Marco said. "That's enough for now." And the five Monster Rangers teleported away.

The Zords lay there, smoking, sparking and burning. The Lion Zord raised its head.

"Well…at least we destroyed one?" Kaiden said.

~oOo~

"Looks like another gloating video," Kaiden called from the Zord Bay computer. The Rangers had limped back to the Satellite Base in the Swan and Eagle Zords. Rex and Elandra had brought the other Zords back in trips, and everyone who could hold a screwdriver had been pressed into repair service. Rachel had insisted on repairing her new ship all by herself—though with tips from the others as they went along. Kaiden had decided to check out the disc Marco had left.

The Rangers gathered around the computer, and Marco appeared on the screen. His skin turned purple, and Ivan Ooze stepped out of him. The morphological being smirked at the camera.

"Marco insisted. He wants to make sure you can't blame me," he said, and stepped away. Marco's face was grim.

"Rangers. The minor damage to Pink Ranger's ship was caused by my interrupting its regeneration cycle. By the time you see this video, Ivan Ooze will have his own body. As your former mentor, I am advising you to stop holding back, as I no longer shall. I will no longer show you any clemency or treat you honorably. From now on, you are nothing but the enemy, to be defeated at all costs. All of you."

"This…" Kaiden began, but shook his head. White-knuckled, Elandra gripped the edge of the computer desk. Marco continued.

"I will take your continued presence in this solar system as your permission to wound, maim, capture, torture or kill you as opportunity strikes. And I do not care how much collateral damage I cause in doing it. I've gone past the point of no return—you've thoroughly convinced me of that. Now my only goal is to do it well and whole-heartedly." Marco reached forward, and turned off the video.

Rex whirled around, drawing the same large knife he'd discarded when fighting Tony, and threw it at the wall. It buried itself up to the hilt in the metal paneling. James punched the keyboard, turning the computer off. Sitting on the floor with a thump, Rachel wrapped her arms around her knees and stared at nothing. Tony glanced around at Elandra.

"Hey, you're crying," he said. The Orange Ranger blinked, and swiped at her eyes.

"So?" She asked. "I think I have a right to."

"You never cry. Why now?" Tony asked.

"I'm from KO-35. We're trained not to waste our tears' healing powers," Elandra said, and sniffed. Then Tony's eyes went wide.

"Hey! Is Fischer still aboard?" He demanded.

"What—" Elandra began, and then her eyes went wide. "Yes, he's in cold storage! Why didn't I think of that before?" She spun around and ran—as well as any pregnant woman can run—out the door.

~oOo~

Rachel was sitting in the cockpit of her ship, staring at a hologram projected by the dashboard. It showed a tall, big-boned woman with blonde curls.

"Kaelan, I have no way of knowing if you'll ever even see this. The ship should carry you to a habitable planet automatically, but after you leave it, I have no control over what happens to you. If you are watching this, you must have questions. Your father and I had to send you away before the battle, which looks like it will engulf all of Phaedos. We both send our love, and hope that whoever has found you has treated you well. May the Power protect you."

The video ended, and Rachel sighed. She rested her forehead on the dashboard, and drummed her fingers on the edge of the cockpit.

"So your real name is Kaelan?" Rex's voice came, and Rachel jumped. The Red Ranger was standing by the Phaedosian ship, leaning against the wall.

"My birth name is Kaelan. I'm Rachel," Rachel replied firmly. She began flipping buttons with angry little jerks.

"Why is this so upsetting? If I found out I was an ancient alien with a toy like this, I'd think it was the coolest thing that had ever happened to me," Rex said. Rachel stopped, and swung around in her seat. Her loose curls swung with the movement.

"Did the 'ancient' part escape you?"

"Listen, Rachel," Rex said, and leaned in. "Seeing as this is who you are, I think you should embrace it. To me, it looks like you've got all the positive bits of being thousands of years old, without actually being a bag of bones or tired of living or anything. It doesn't seem all that bad."

Rachel looked down, and her mouth twitched.

"I guess so," she said at last. She flipped a switch, and the ship hummed to life. "You know, you always kind of scared me with how overqualified you were for this job, when I could barely throw a punch." Rex made a sad face, and Rachel cracked up.

"Have you tried her out?" Rex asked, as Rachel went on pushing buttons.

"Not yet. Want to race?" Rachel offered, with a grin. "Bet I can still beat you with this even if you go to Hyper Mode."

"You are so on," Rex said, eyes lighting up, and darted to the Bolt Zord.

~oOo~

Fischer blinked, and opened his eyes. A cold, white fluorescent light shone down on him. He was lying on a metal table, still in his bloody, torn clothes, and a woman was crying nearby. The hunchback could see his breath in the frigid air, and he felt drops of water on his face.

Fischer sat up, and looked over at the crying woman. It was the Orange Ranger, and she was fumbling with a little empty beaker and sobbing. She was considerably larger than before. Her face was red and blotchy, and she waved him towards the door.

"Can't talk," she managed. "Ask James." Fischer nodded, and slid off the table.

The Blue Stellar Ranger was working at his laptop when Fischer arrived, the hunchback picking at the dried blood gluing his shirt to his chest.

"It's been a while?" Fischer asked, and James started. He turned around, closing his laptop, and Fischer sat down.

"About three weeks," James said. "Marco's revealed he's bonded with Ivan Ooze, become the Purple Monster Ranger, gotten Ivan a separate body, and turned thoroughly evil. On the plus side, I got the Weeping Angels out of the Blue Monster Ranger's head—good tip, by the way—and we destroyed the Black Monster Ranger." Fischer's expression went grim.

"The Black Ranger was one of the two Monster Rangers on your side," he said. "Red was the other, and Green was well on her way thanks to him."

"…Oh no. I guess that explains the Green Ranger's fit of berserk rage," James said slowly. Then Fischer heard footsteps, and turned to see the Yellow Ranger arrive.

"What are you doing here?" James asked wearily.

"Coming to see Elandra. You're Fischer? Kaiden Hart," the Yellow Ranger said, shaking Fischer's hand. "Sorry we didn't think to bring you back earlier, we all kind of had a Blonde Moment, and we've been busy."

"So I've heard," Fischer said dryly. Kaiden let go, and went past the two into the cold storage unit.

Elandra was still crying when he arrived, catching all of the tears in the little vial. Kaiden sat on the bench beside the Orange Ranger and put a hand on her shoulder. He stayed like that until she'd reached the dry hiccupping stage. She swiped at her nose and sat up.

"Thanks," she said.

"No prob," Kaiden replied. "Rachel's busy with her own identity crisis, so I volunteered to help you out."

"I'm changing his name," Elandra said, adjusting her jacket.

"What?" Kaiden asked.

"The baby. _He_ wanted to name our son after his old superior, Octavian, and Merrick because of his time travel." She chuckled a little, bitterly. "There was one name I rather liked which he insisted we not use: River. Besides, this surname thing never really sat well with me, and now there's no way I'm keeping _his_," Elandra said. Now Kaiden noticed the lack of a wedding ring on her finger. "If necessary, Merrick still seems to fit, so that will suffice."

"Right, they don't do last names on KO-35, do they?" He asked. "Sometimes I forget you're not from Earth."

"And sometimes I forget you're not from KO-35," Elandra said. "We aren't all that different." She capped the vial of tears, and stood up.

"So you're okay now?" Kaiden asked, rising.

"I don't think I'll ever be okay again. But I'm better," Elandra said.

"It does stop hurting," Kaiden said. "After a while."

"No it doesn't," James called from the hallway. Kaiden heard his laptop case shut with an angry zip. "It just loses its edge."

"How would you know?" Kaiden called. James came to the doorway.

"I was pretty much born a prodigy. My parents were always pushing me to learn more, even wanting me to go to college when I was four. I didn't want to, but they wouldn't listen. So I skipped every single class and got expelled within three months. In response, my parents _disowned me_ and dumped me in Area 51. Maybe they got killed in one of these monster attacks, maybe I've got siblings, I haven't heard from them in fifteen years. Satisfied?" He said, and turned away. Kaiden glanced at Elandra, who gestured for him to follow. The Yellow Ranger did, catching up to James halfway down the hall.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Kaiden asked. James stopped.

"Why don't you talk about your dad or step-brother?" He asked. "Do you think I like remembering this?"

"No," Kaiden admitted. "But it does explain a lot." James started walking again. "But you don't have to be so crabby all the time," the Yellow Ranger called. James swung around.

"Give me a reason to not be," he countered.

"Because the past is the past. Whatever happened back then was bad, sure, but it was the past. And you've already read my file, you know that I understand exactly how it feels to be abandoned by your parents. So, when I say that you need to move on, you're a Power Ranger now for heaven's sake, it's because I know and I already have," Kaiden said. He walked forward slowly all through his speech, until he and James were eye-to-eye.

James and Kaiden stared at each other for a long time.

"Do you do this to everyone?" James asked.

"I am kind of turning into the team therapist, aren't I?" Kaiden said, and laughed. James managed a small grin, turned and went back about his business. Once he'd gone around the corner, Kaiden did a fist pump.

"Progress!" He hissed triumphantly.

~oOo~

Trivia: In an original draft of this story, River's name was Kendrix Shayla, after Elandra's favorite Ranger techie and one of the two people 3000 years out of their element.


	20. Chapter 20: Kronos Blast

Disclaimer: I own Elandra, her baby, Fischer, the Satellite Base, the Stellar powers and Zords. I'm using Power Rangers, the other Stellar Rangers, the Monster Rangers, Ivan Ooze, the Demi-Zords, and Rachel's ship.

~oOo~

"Huh. That's odd," Elandra said. Fischer stopped going through the files and turned to the Orange Ranger. Her pregnancy kept her nearly at arm's length from the keyboard, and she'd stopped even trying to fasten more than the first button of her uniform jacket.

"What?"

Elandra pointed to the screen. "That's the Brute Zord. It's landed on the Moon." Fischer sprang up and darted over. With a few quick keystrokes, Elandra zoomed in as the Brute Mode Demi-Zord settled on the ground. The hatch opened, and the Red Monster Ranger sprang out, landing with a puff of dust.

"What's he doing?" Elandra asked, looking to Fischer.

"It looks as if he's returning your Zord. Scan for the others—or explosives in the Brute Zord." Elandra did so. Fischer stepped back and watched, folding his arms.

"No, he's alone and clean." Elandra hit the communicator. "Rex, Tony, up."

"What?" Rex asked.

"Elandra, do you know what time it is?" Tony groaned.

"Sixteen minutes after midnight. Monster Red is on the Moon, alone, with the Brute Zord. Go," Elandra ordered.

"Sorry?" Tony exclaimed.

"On our way," Rex said.

Another minute passed, and the Satellite Base vibrated as the Zord Bay doors opened. The Bolt and Lagrange Zords flew out, in Jet and Quad Mode respectively.

Fischer went back to his own computer, and Elandra folded her hands on her stomach and watched the two Demi-Zords fly.

They landed on either side of the Brute Zord, and Rex and Tony climbed out cautiously. The Red Monster Ranger demorphed, revealing a brunet in a black jumpsuit, with chalk-white skin and red eyes. He kept glancing around nervously, and as the Stellar Rangers approached, held out both his morpher and Marco's old Power Ring.

"What is this?" Rex asked, snatching the morphers and looking them over. It was cold on the dark Moon, and the Monster Ranger's breath was visible. He was barefoot as well, and dug his toes into the sand.

"I'm on your side. Have been from the beginning, but haven't been able to do much to help. The Alchemist isn't much of a second-chances guy, but after what happened to Jacob, I think I'll risk it. These are real—I couldn't have flown the Zord up here without the real Ring."

"Fischer told us you and the Black Ranger were on our side right after the fight," Tony said.

"How? Fischer's—oh, right, KO-35 Ranger. Why didn't he tell you before?"

"He wasn't alive before. We kind of forgot we could fix that," Tony admitted.

"Well, we've kept you pretty busy," Monster Red said, with a trace of a grin that showed off his vampire fangs.

"What's your name?" Rex asked.

"Charlie Hammond." Rex tossed him the Power Ring.

"Take her up, we can't drive two at once." With a slight smile, Charlie slipped on the Power Ring and began climbing back into the Brute Zord.

"You sure about this?" Tony asked, as Rex headed back to his own Zord.

"To bring us the Brute Zord, he had to find Marco's Ring and tear through the Hexagram, and he just handed us his morpher without even being asked. I think we can trust him to drive the Zord just up there." Rex nodded towards the Satellite Base. "Besides, if anything goes wrong, we can take care of him. He won't know how to use the Brute Zord in combat."

Tony shrugged, and returned to the Lagrange Zord. The three Zords all took off at the same time, and flanking the Monster Ranger, Tony and Rex flew back to the base. The Zord Bay doors opened for them, and they zipped inside.

Elandra, Kaiden and Rachel ran inside the very second the doors closed. Charlie took off the Power Ring as soon as he hit the floor, and slapped it into Elandra's hand. Rex added the Monster Ranger's own morpher, and Elandra looked up at both of them in consternation. Kaiden and Rachel were both in their pajamas, with bed hair, asking questions at once.

"Who is this?"

"Wait—that's the Brute Zord!"

"What were you guys doing?"

"Enough!" Elandra shouted, and they stopped. She pointed to Charlie. "Man on the inside." To the Demi-Zord. "Weapon he's returning to us." Then to Rex and Tony. "Rangers who went to check it out. Get it?"

"Got it," Kaiden said, and Rachel nodded.

"Good." Elandra addressed Monster Red. "Sorry about what happened to Black, we didn't know he was on our side until after the fact."

"He's not dead, if that's what you're thinking." The Red Monster Ranger clasped his hands behind his back.

"What? How? I sliced and diced him," Tony asked.

"I know. You just didn't kill him." Charlie waited for that to sink in. Kaiden gagged, and Rachel's eyes went very wide. Then the wall communicator beeped.

"Yes?" Elandra asked.

"Elandra, your computers are infected," Fischer said.

"What? Explain." Charlie quickly put up his hands, as the Rangers turned on him with suspicious glares.

"Marco said he put a computer virus on the disc he left here, so he could go through your files and steal your technology." Darkly, Rex started to speak, glanced at Elandra, and closed his mouth again. "It activated when you watched the message."

"Can you stop it?" Elandra said into the wall comm.

"I've isolated the corrupted files—as many as I could find—and I'm writing an antivirus program now. James or Rex or both would be a great help right now."

"I'll get James," Rex said, and darted out the door.

He found James's quarters, and dragged the sleepily protesting Blue Ranger out of bed with a hasty, shouted explanation. Rex didn't slow down until they were actually in the command center. Fischer glanced over at them from a computer, and Rex quickly pulled up a seat next to him.

"The Hyper Mode and Kronos Cube files are compromised," Fischer said.

"What? That—how far are you in the antivirus?" Rex asked. Fischer showed him, and the Red Ranger began typing madly.

"What—in—the—name—of—_sanity_—_**is**_—this?" James interrupted, emphasizing each word separately. Rex turned back to him. The Blue Ranger had red sleep marks all along his left cheek, his black hair stuck out in every direction, and he was glaring at Rex.

"We've got a computer virus, courtesy of Marco," Rex said, and gestured to a computer. "Fix it." Still glaring, James sat down, flexed his fingers and went to work. For the next few minutes, the only sound was typing.

"Got it. Pretty simple info bug, downloading antivirus to all of you guys." Rex looked at his screen.

"Tlaos?"

"My screen name." James didn't even glance at him. His fingers flew over the keys. "I'm tracking the virus back to its' source—I should be able to give him a counter-virus that'll corrupt whatever he's got." A grin crossed his face. "And a little bit extra."

"Great." Rex slapped James on the back. The Blue Ranger grunted a little at the solid smack, but continued typing.

"Never do that again," James said, staring at his screen.

"Fine, forget it," Rex said, holding up his hands and backing a few steps away. Then the entire base trembled. "What the…" Rex darted to a computer and brought up the security monitors.

The Zord Bay was filled with smoke, slashed by multicolored lasers. There was a lot of shouting, and some screaming. Rex's face darkened and he darted out the door. He heard James follow a second later, and the two nearly collided in the elevator.

"Medieval Planets, descend!" They shouted, morphing with flashes. The trip downstairs took less than a minute, but the base trembled again as they reached the door. It slid back, and the two ran inside, drawing their Power Weapons instinctively.

The next few minutes were pure insanity. Nobody could see further than arm's length, and the constant yelling from every direction meant following a voice was impossible. Rex spun around, looking for just a flicker of red. He whirled, raising his Jovian Sword to catch Tony's lance on the blade.

"Sorry, saw red and thought—"

"I know! Keep looking!" Then he felt a searing pain in his shoulder, and let out a startled yell. Tony caught the Red Ranger as his knees buckled, Rex twisting around to throw his sword in the Red Monster Ranger's direction. The Zord Bay doors rumbled open, and the cloud of smoke began to blow out into space.

There was a blast of scarlet lightning, and the giant Red Monster Ranger rode the wave of smoke out into space. Tony lost his footing in the rush of wind, and he and Rex fell in a heap. He rolled into the Brute Zord's leg with a solid thunk. Then Rachel smacked the control by the inside door, and the Zord Bay doors slid closed again.

Everyone just sat or lay where they were and breathed for a long time. Rex winced as his shoulder throbbed, and he twisted around to try and look at it. His suit had protected him pretty well, but a raw red, shiny burn showed through the blackened hole over his left shoulderblade.

Then Kaiden let out a screech of pain through his teeth. The Yellow Ranger lay on his side, clutching his right knee. Tony hadn't moved. Rolling him over onto his back, Rex hissed at the bleeding gash on his temple, and tore off a corner of the Green Ranger's shirt to stop the bleeding with. James began to stagger towards the Typhoon Zord.

"If you guys had only gotten me up earlier, I could have read his mind and told you he was planning something like this!"

"Shut up, we weren't awake either," Rachel retorted, going to her own ship. "You stay and help the injured guys, I'm faster." James folded his arms with a huff, and turned back to his teammates. Rex stood up, cradling his left arm to not aggravate the shoulder.

"Hey, where's Elandra?" He asked suddenly. Everyone paused and looked around. The Orange Ranger was nowhere to be seen.

"You don't think she got sucked out into space?" Rachel asked, suddenly afraid. Rex shook his head, brow darkening. He'd tried to shake—and then gently slap—Tony awake, but the Green Ranger only groaned.

"_Charlie_ had a reason to come here, and it wasn't to hand over the Brute Zord." James reached him, and threw Tony over his shoulder in a fireman's hold. "He said the Blue Monster Ranger was still alive, just severely wounded, and now the Ranger with healing powers is gone." Rex stood up and began to hobble out after James.

"Bye!" Rachel leaped into her ship. Kaiden tried to stand and failed with a hiss. Rex grabbed Kaiden by the arm and pulled him up, looping Kaiden's arm over his good shoulder. The four Rangers hurried out the door.

Rex hit the control to open the Zord Bay doors, then shut the inside door and slumped against the wall, panting. Kaiden hadn't been morphed when he'd been hit, and there was a pretty nasty-looking burn on his knee. Tony's eyelids flickered, and he twitched, but he didn't wake up as James set him against the wall.

Fischer's voice came over the comm. "Is the Kronos Cube supposed to light up all by itself?"

"Oh, what now?" Rex moaned. "I thought James fixed that!" James sprang up.

"I fixed the _computers_. Didn't think you could download into the Kr—" and then time exploded.

Everything went black, then white, and the stars whirled around like a berserk tilt-a-whirl. The wind howled ear-piercingly, and it was bitter cold and flesh-melting hot all at once. Then a blue hole ripped open before Rex's eyes, and then it was over just as suddenly as it had begun.

Rex hit the ground with an oof. He lay there, catching his breath, and glanced around at his new surroundings. He'd bitten his tongue in landing, and he could taste blood and dirt. His head spun, and his stomach was doing back flips.

Slowly, his head cleared, and Rex looked around. One, Tony, James, Kaiden and Fischer lay nearby, stunned or unconscious. Two, they were in a jungle. Three, someone was storming through the shrubbery nearby.

Rex crawled towards the noise to see better without being noticed himself. It was awkward with one arm, but his shoulder still throbbed. The first thing he spotted was a square, white tent, with gear scattered about. In front of it lay a dead man wrapped in vines. Rex froze, staring.

Then the source of the noise appeared: a man in explorer gear, muttering to himself. His face was chalk-white shot through with dark veins, and his eyes blazed yellow. Rex recognized him, and all the pieces fell into place: Doctor Viktor Adler, also known as Master Org. O-kay, then, serious time-and-space travel.

The brand-new Org stormed into the tent, and clattered around inside for a while. Pieces of equipment were thrown this way and that, a few of the heavier ones tearing through the canvas. Rex wished he knew where they were, and who the dead man was.

Finally, Master Org left, crashing off through the bracken. Rex waited until he couldn't hear anything but birds and insects, and then breathed. Standing up very cautiously, he went back to collect his teammates. Whoever the dead man was, he wouldn't need the camp anymore, and they would.

Everyone but Fisher was awake when he returned. The hunchback had been closest to the blast by a lot, and he was a sickly blue-white color, breathing shallowly. The three Rangers started when Rex reappeared. Tony sprang up—though he swayed and had to grab a tree trunk to keep his balance.

"We've time-traveled," Rex began.

"Understandable, given that it was a time-traveling device which exploded," James muttered.

Rex glared at him. "I nearly met Master Org back there, and he's killed whoever was using the camp. Come on." James got up with a groan, and picked up Fischer. Tony helped Kaiden, and Rex led the battered party back to the campsite.

As they came, they all began to hear a baby crying. James stopped up short, nearly dropping Fisher.

"We're in 1982, somewhere in South America," he said, and nodded towards the dead man. "Richard Evans, formerly co-researcher of his wife Elizabeth and Doctor Adler." Tony helped Kaiden sit, and dropped down next to him, holding his head.

"Then that's—" Rex began, looking around for the source of the crying.

"Cole Evans, future Red Wild Force Ranger," James confirmed, laying Fischer down on the ground. Rex went into the tent and began looking around. It was a wreck, and most of the lighter wooden equipment was broken. The Red Ranger listened for a moment, and followed the baby's voice to the far corner of the tent. He pulled a smashed chair and blanket aside, and found Cole in an open cooler. The baby stopped crying as he saw the Red Ranger, and blinked up at him in bewilderment.

Rex shook his head. "No, I don't really know what's going on either, but I don't like it."

~oOo~

Trivia: Originally, Rex got into a fight with Master Org, but I cut it for space.


	21. Chapter 21: Rachel's Trial

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban, Doctor Who to the BBC, and the submitted characters to WolfsbaneX, SSJ-Jolt (who also designed the Demi-Zords), Gmoney22 and Rye Lee.

~oOo~

The Red Monster Ranger vanished as Rachel opened fire, and her pink lasers slammed into the Moon's surface. She punched the console in frustration, and began to think. It was cold in space, and she shivered a little.

They'd gone back to the Hexagram for sure. To rescue Elandra, she'd need to cut her way inside, like last time. The Rangers had kept the chainsaw sword from their first attack on the Hexagram; it was in the Demi-Zord bay with the other weapons. Rachel turned around. She'd need the Dash Zord to use it—or maybe something larger, since she would be bringing Elandra back. The Demi-Zords didn't have a lot of spare room inside. A Megazord? James wasn't hurt, he could help.

Rachel was slightly surprised when the Zord Bay doors wouldn't open. Maybe they were stuck? She input the security override code and flew inside. The hangar itself looked just the way she'd left it, and Rachel ran further in.

To her surprise, nobody was in sickbay, or their quarters. She headed for the command center. If they were up there, why hadn't they opened the doors for her? Had the virus done something before they could stop it? The doors slid open, and Rachel skidded to a halt in the middle of the room.

The Kronos Cube, or rather its scorched pieces, lay on a shattered and sparking console. The area immediately around it was scorched black, except for what looked like a human silhouette on the floor. Everything else looked normal—though the air smelled like burnt feathers.

"Oh no," Rachel managed. She darted inside and dropped down next to the silhouette, just beginning to panic. It looked like Fischer's. What had happened? Kronos Cube exploding—would that mess with time? Seemed likely.

Rachel quickly checked under all of the consoles, then returned to the elevator. She punched the button and only just waited for the doors to open before darting out to the Rangers' quarters. She hammered on each of the doors in turn, yelling for her teammates. Nobody was there.

Heart hammering, beginning to sweat, Rachel returned to the elevator and dropped to the Zord floor. Nobody was there either. Her voice echoed around, and she climbed up each of the Stellar Zords to check inside it. She wished she knew how to run a scan to just check the entire ship, and decided to ask James to show her how. That is, if he was still alive. No, don't go there, next floor.

The oxygen plant and sickbay were empty, as was engineering. Wheezing, Rachel dropped down against a column and caught her breath. Okay, okay then, she was alone. Hopefully, the guys had been dumped back through time or something—after all, it was the Kronos Cube that had exploded. Seemed likely. But what now?

Elandra had built the Kronos Cube. She could build another one, if Rachel got her out. But how to do that all by herself? Maybe the Blue Monster Ranger would help—grr, what was his name?—but after what had happened with Charlie, Rachel wasn't too sure. She began to get a prickle behind the eyes, and blinked it back.

The engine thrummed all around her, setting her teeth on edge. Rachel got up, and walked back to the elevator. Knowing she was totally alone on the ship made it kind of eerie. Her footsteps and breathing echoed around the huge, not-really-lit room. Rachel got that nasty sensation of being watched by something—or a lot of somethings—lurking in the shadows. She broke into a run, nearly hitting the far side of the elevator. The doors closed, and Rachel swiped her curls out of her face. Her hands shook.

~oOo~

James was picking through the scattered equipment, looking for something he could mess with. Kaiden sat next to Fischer, keeping an eye out in case Master Org or a wild animal showed up. Tony had found the first aid kit and patched pretty much everyone else up, covered up Mr. Evans's body with a sheet, and gone into the woods with another one under his arm. A sudden wail from inside the tent pierced the air.

"Hey, anyone know how to pick up a baby?" Rex called from inside the tent.

"With your hands," James replied, "if possible."

"Ha, ha, ha," Rex said flatly. "I don't want to drop a future Red Ranger on his head, and ASAS training doesn't cover this."

"Neither do computer hacking lessons," James said. He was creating a ring of all the technology he could find, and had gotten a toolbox from somewhere. Right now he was dissecting a small radio.

"Sorry, I know as much as you guys do," Kaiden added. "Does Tony have any siblings? He might know."

"This is getting ridiculous," Rex said. "Okay, let's just try it again." More crying ensued, and then Rex came out of the tent, pinning Cole to his chest with both arms. The baby was turning red in the face from yelling, though he seemed more offended than anything else.

"I think Fischer's coming around," Kaiden said. Sure enough, the hunchback was stirring.

"Rex, can you give me a hand with this?" James called, from his nest of equipment.

"Here, you're not doing anything, nurse the baby," Rex said, passing Cole to Kaiden. The Yellow Ranger gave him a very strange look.

"Aussie slang for hold the baby," James called, and Kaiden's expression cleared up. He wasn't much better than Rex, but at least he was sitting still. Cole began to quiet down.

"Of course, what'd you think I meant?" Rex asked, going over to James.

"In America, nursing the baby means breastfeeding," James said.

"…Ah," Rex said, and sat down. Kaiden cracked up, and James grinned at Rex's back.

Fischer sat up slowly, blinking owlishly. He looked around at the jungle, the camp, and finally at Kaiden. Shaking his head, the hunchback arranged Kaiden's arms so Cole's head rested in the crook of his elbow, and his right hand was under the baby's back. Cole went quiet, and began to suck his thumb.

"How'd you do that?" Kaiden asked.

"I have three grown children, I know how this works," Fischer said. "Where are we?"

"South America, probably somewhere near the Amazon, year 1982," James replied. He grabbed a screwdriver out of Rex's hand and began working on the back panel of another piece. The Red Ranger cuffed him on the arm, and got up muttering about duct tape.

"The Kronos Cube's been shattered. I saw it happen just before I was blasted away," Fischer said.

"So we're stuck?" Kaiden asked.

"Unless Time Force notices, or we can put something together," Fischer said, nodding towards Rex and James. He shuffled over, and the two Rangers made room for him.

Then Tony returned, dragging a large white bundle with both arms. He laid it beside Richard Evans's body and turned to the others.

"Is there anything for me to do?" He asked. Rex, returning from the tent with a roll of silver duct tape, paused.

"Not right now," he said.

"Then I'm going to bury them," Tony said, nodding to the two white bundles.

"Fine, knock yourself out," Rex said, "There's some shovels inside." He returned to James and Fischer, and Tony ducked into the tent. Kaiden glanced down at Cole, and saw that the baby had gone to sleep. His leg twinged, but he didn't dare move for fear of waking Cole up. Tony came back out and crossed to the far end of the clearing, where he began to dig.

It grew dark. Animals stirred and began making noise among the trees. James got flashlights, and Kaiden risked shooting a little flame from his Ring for light. Tony was using his powers to keep his hands from blistering, and the green glow let him see what he was doing as well. Nobody spoke.

~oOo~

Rachel was on her way back to the Demi-Zord bay. She'd decided her best chance was to go after Elandra, and hope that the Black Monster Ranger at least might help them get back out. She'd need the chainsaw sword—wait a minute…

Rachel slapped her forehead hard enough to sting. "Phantom Zords, of course!" She cried. Then she frowned. "They're not all called that, are they? Anyway, reinforcements!" She darted upstairs to the command center, and after a second's pause, searched the files for 'UN Demi-Zords.'

The distress signal was activated, and Rachel straightened with a shaky sigh of relief. She headed down to the Demi-Zord Bay to fly out and wait for the help.

The elevator doors slid open, revealing a huge blue-black wolf. Rachel tried to morph, but the creature tackled her to the floor. Summoning her Mercurial Sais with a shriek, Rachel slashed the animal across the jaw as he snapped at her. His hot breath blasted her face, and he yelped and tried to bite her arm.

Then a chain wrapped around Rachel's wrist, and her arm was jerked aside. Her sai clattered to the floor, and a yellow boot came down on her wrist. As the Green Ranger advanced, Rachel kneed the wolf in the gut and shoved it off.

Rolling around, the Pink Ranger slashed the Yellow Monster Ranger's shins, ducking to avoid the Green Ranger's thrown dagger. The meteor hammer chain went slack, and Rachel scrabbled for her other sai. She sprang up, shoving them out of the elevator and closing the doors.

"Medieval Planets, descend!" She gasped, slumped against the wall and panted for a few moments. The elevator was moving—she must have pushed a button in her panic. The wolf had scratched her up a little, and she could feel dark bruises breaking out all over her body.

The doors opened on the oxygen plant forest, and Rachel stumbled inside. Panting, she ran into the middle of the wood, and ducked behind a large boulder to wait. Her breathing slowed down to normal. How had the Monster Rangers gotten inside? There had only been three—what were the others doing?

Then she heard a crack, and froze. Very, very quietly, Rachel peeked around her boulder. There were the Green and Blue Rangers, the latter still in wolf form, standing by the elevator. A breeze carried a wave of sand into the room, and Rachel remembered that the Yellow Ranger could do that. Only now did she realize what a bad color bright pink was for camouflage.

She began to creep towards the two visible Monster Rangers. She'd use the element of surprise, while she had it. The pair split off to search for Rachel, Blue loping towards her hiding place and Green heading the other way. Rachel backed against a tree and waited, clenching both Sais convulsively.

The wolf paused, and sniffed the air. Rachel leaped onto his back, stabbing both sais into the creature's shoulders. It howled as they both crashed to the ground, and they began to roll. Kicking up dirt, yelling at the top of their lungs, the two Rangers struggled. Dark blood spattered Rachel's uniform.

The Blue Ranger sank his fangs into Rachel's shoulder, and she screamed. Her grip on the sais loosened, and he pulled out of her reach. Then the Pink Ranger was seized around the waist and thunked into a boulder by someone she couldn't see. Winded, she crumpled.

The Yellow Ranger seized Rachel by the arms, hauling her back to her feet. Blue turned back into a human and demorphed. Both sais were still in his back, and he stirred weakly. Green, Purple and Black arrived a second later, and the Green Ranger pulled the daggers out.

"Heather, take him outside where Ivan can teleport you both back," the Purple Ranger ordered. Green saluted and picked up the Blue Ranger. He grunted, and the Green Ranger started back to the elevator. Rachel struggled, but the Yellow Ranger was stronger than her—and not injured. Her shoulder throbbed.

"Destroy her," Marco said to the Black Ranger, nodding to Rachel. The other Monster Ranger started, and glanced from his mentor to the Pink Ranger a few times. Marco folded his arms. Even under the helmet, he was visibly glaring.

"Sir," the Black Ranger began.

"You said you'd joined me, Anderson," Marco said. "Obey." Then Rachel's helmet communicator sounded. A strange male voice, with a moderate German accent, spoke.

"Satellite Base, this is Oberst Harper, did you send a distress signal? We have captured two of the Monster Rangers, are the others nearby, over?"

"Do it now!" Marco shouted.

"Storm Trident," the Black Monster Ranger said, and the weapon appeared in his hands.

"J-Jacob," Rachel began, remembering his name at last. "Please, don't." The Black Monster Ranger raised his trident, then whirled around and stabbed the Purple Ranger in the chest. There was a shower of sparks, and the evil Ranger cried out in surprise and pain.

The Yellow Ranger shoved Rachel aside and lassoed her Black teammate by the neck. He flipped a leg around the chain and dragged it down, giving himself enough slack to free himself. Rachel went for her discarded sais, and twisted around to get at Marco. But he was gone.

An invisible boot struck Rachel in the visor, and she fell back, clunking her head on the helmet and boulder behind her. Stars exploded in her eyes, and all of her limbs turned to jelly. Monster Black's trident clanged against the rock over her head. There was a lot of thumping, and some grunts. Then there was nothing but silence—and a buzzing in Rachel's ears.

Then Rachel blinked and sat up, head pounding. Nobody else was there. Then the Satellite Base shook: something had hit it. Springing up too quickly—and yelping as her injuries all ached at once—Rachel staggered out of the oxygen plant.

The Pink Stellar Ranger found herself in the Demi-Zord bay, and climbed into her Phaedosian ship. She really should name it some time, she thought, as she buckled herself in. The station shook again, and Rachel opened the outside doors.

There were a lot of Zords out there, all shooting madly at each other. Three Rachel didn't recognize, and let's see, White and Red holding their own. Wait, no, Yellow was back. Then she was out in the middle of the fight.

The nearest had locked weapons with the Yellow Monster Ranger, and its chainsaw-sword spat sparks as it ground against the chain. A black jet fighter transformed into a slender Demi-Zord, and slashed Marco three times in passing as he tried to attack Yellow's opponent. Another, as bulky as the previous one was thin, drew back and fired an enormous cannon at the Red Monster Ranger. A cluster of glowing yellow rounds tore into Charlie's armor, and he fell back and vanished.

Rachel swooped over the fight, peppering the Yellow Monster Ranger with pink lasers. The Demi-Zord twisted his opponent's chain away, raised his rifle and blasted her directly in the chest. Marco's chakram hit the Demi-Zord in the back, and the Yellow Ranger took advantage of the pause to free herself and teleport away.

The Demi-Zords and Rachel gathered. She couldn't see the captured Monster Rangers, and guessed they were inside one of the other Zords.

"Oberst Harper?" Rachel asked into the communications system. The slender Demi-Zord turned towards her, transforming back into jet mode in a second.

"We received your distress call, and responded as quickly as we could. Where are the rest of the Rangers?" Harper asked.

"Very long story," Rachel sighed. "You said you had two Monster Rangers?" The bulky Zord's driver, who had a Russian accent you could do handsprings on, spoke up.

"Green and Blue, yes. But the boy is not in good shape."

"I think that's how the Alchemist tracks them, with the Morphers," Rachel said. "Elandra left some of her tears on the Base, we'll bring them in there. Besides, Marco can't seem to teleport directly in or out of the Satellite Base."

She turned her ship and flew back to the Base, triggering the doors as she went in. The Demi-Zords slipped into formation and followed her. Rachel landed in the far corner, and winced as her torn shoulder throbbed. The bleeding had slowed, though.

Rachel couldn't help but smile as she climbed out, though. No other Rangers, no special weapons, the other guys had the element of surprise, and three Monster Rangers down. Not bad!

~oOo~

Trivia: The three Demi-Zords appearing are the Euro Spitfire 2, the KV-90 Kzargard, and the UNZ-001M Balgora Mark 2M. Thanks again to SSJ-Jolt!

A/N:Oberst is the German Air Force equivalent to Colonel, not the guy's name, so there's no confusion.


	22. Chapter 22: Here We Go

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers, Doctor Who, or any characters or technology designed by someone else I've interacted with on this website.

~oOo~

Tony walked out of the jungle, carrying a sleeping Cole. The clearing was full of wooden houses on stilts, and a few small cooking fires smoldered around the place. Tony looked from Cole to the silent village. A baby was crying somewhere inside; that probably meant someone would be up soon.

"Don't want to upset the timeline too much," Tony whispered to Cole. "You're supposed to go here. Why am I talking to you?" He shrugged, crept right to the edge of the houses, and set Cole down by a bush as gently as he could. The baby woke up and started crying, and Tony nearly shushed him before remembering that would bring someone coming faster.

He pulled the red animal crystal out of his pocket, along with the photo, and a stub of pencil he'd retrieved earlier. Any writing would be completely worn off in twenty years, no problem there. "His name is Cole Evans," Tony wrote on the back of the photo, and tucked it and the crystal into Cole's blanket. The baby was really starting to get upset, and Tony heard footsteps in one of the nearby houses.

"Well, good luck," he whispered, and ducked back into the woods. He heard a shout from behind him, and plunged onwards. Prickers and creepers clung to his muddy uniform, but Tony pressed on through. He was back in the clearing in moments.

The others were gathered around Fischer, who was fiddling with the newly-built, salvaged Kronos Cube. It was much less colorful than the original—though the red duct tape lent it a certain rakish air.

"Mission successful," Tony whispered to the others, coming in between James and Kaiden.

Fischer held out the Kronos Cube, and all of the guys put their hands on it. The screens lit up, though a few flickered.

"You're _sure_ this will work?" Tony asked. The metal plates under his hand didn't quite meet up at the corners.

"Yes, stop asking," James said, and Fischer pressed the button.

The guys materialized in the Demi-Zord Bay with a crack, all thrown back by the force of the trip. There was a startled shriek, and Tony sat up to see Rachel running towards them. Wincing, he clambered to his feet, and then saw the three strange Demi-Zords parked near the doors.

"Who…?" He began, pointing, as a pair of uniformed men climbed out. They went to the largest, and the unmorphed Green Monster Ranger dropped out, followed by a very tall soldier with a limp body slung over his shoulders. Tony guessed by the black jumpsuit that it was another Monster Ranger.

By now everyone else was back up, and recounting their stories. Rachel zipped away at superspeed, shouting something about Elandra's tears. Kaiden sat down, gasping a little as he moved his injured knee. Without a word, James and Fischer walked out, probably heading for the command center. Rex went to the soldiers, and Tony followed him.

The large man gently set the unconscious Monster Ranger on the floor, and his green teammate quietly bent down to check on him. The most decorated soldier, a balding man in an olive green uniform, turned to the oncoming Rangers and snapped a crisp salute.

"Oberst Wolfgang Harper, Eurofighter Spitfire 2 Demi-Zord pilot," he announced. "We responded to a distress signal issued by Stellar Pink, but I see the crisis may be over." Rex cracked a grin, even though Tony could see his shoulder was still paining him.

"I think so. You can all return to base—if we need you again, we'll call." Harper nodded, and turned to the other two, and repeated the order. They also saluted, standing, and the bespectacled man passed the unresisting Green Monster Ranger to Tony by the elbow. The biggest man picked the injured Monster Ranger up again.

"Where should I put him?" He asked, with a thick Russian accent.

"Follow me," Rex said. He led the others out of the Demi-Zord Bay, Tony helping Kaiden. They went up to the Rec Room, and only then did Tony remember the manacles Elandra had left attached to the walls after his and Rex's fight. Rachel rejoined them as the Russian left.

"Elandra saved her tears, remember?" She said, uncorking a tiny vial of what looked like water and wetting a wad of gauze. She went to the Monster Ranger first, and pulling open one of the rips in the back of his jumpsuit, pressed the gauze to a still-bleeding wound. He shuddered, but when Rachel took the gauze away and checked the other injuries, they were healed over.

"We need to hurry," Rachel said, darting to Kaiden. "The Black Monster Ranger saved me, but the others took him away, and I don't think Marco's going to be very merciful."

"What?" The Green Monster Ranger interrupted, wide-eyed. She sprang to her feet, the chain jingling. "He couldn't—"

"Really?" Rex asked, folding his arms and looking hard at the Monster Ranger. She bit her lip.

"He will. You don't have time to decide if you can trust me, just go, please," she said quickly. Rex punched the wall comm.

"James, you, Tony and I head out to the Hexagram now, using Hyper Mode," he ordered. "The rest'll join you as soon as we're all fit."

"Roger," James said.

"Got it," Tony added, standing up. At that moment, the Blue Monster Ranger catapulted upright and let out an inhuman screech. Startled, Rachel dropped the vial of tears, but Kaiden caught it and very little spilled.

"No, no, _no_! You're dead!" The Blue Ranger screamed, clamping his hands over his ears. The Green Monster Ranger dragged her chain to its full length.

"What's happening?" Kaiden asked.

"He's got a telepathic connection to the Weeping Angels, he can sense them—but we thought they were all gone!" The Monster Ranger stammered.

"So did we," Kaiden said. "You guys go—Rachel and I will take care of the Angels."

The Blue Ranger's eyes snapped open. "Angel," he gasped. "Just one. There," he pointed to one of the doors with a shaking hand. Tony and Rex darted into the elevator, and Rachel and Kaiden raised their fists.

"Medieval Planets, descend!" They shouted, with Rex and Tony following suit in the lift.

James was in the Typhoon Zord's cockpit already, morphed, as the other two dashed in. Rex quickly shouted about the Weeping Angel as they reached their Demi-Zords.

"Looky what I found," he said, and held something up between his forefinger and thumb. Tony couldn't see it from so far away, but Rex froze halfway into the Bolt Zord's cockpit.

"They left Marco's Power Ring?" The Red Ranger said incredulously. Now Tony saw it, small and gleaming darkly in the Blue Ranger's hand. James tossed it in the air, caught it and pushed it over a lever on his Zord controls.

"It was on the floor. I guess Monster Red dropped it on his way out." His hatch slid closed, Tony's and Rex's following a moment later, as Fischer opened the outer doors. The three Demi-Zords flew out into space, and paused.

"Ready?" Rex asked.

"I've been ready for ages," James said. "Hyper Mode!"

Tony threw the levers, and heard the fusion reactors powering the Lagrange Zord fire up. He could see the golden glow cover his hull, and cracked his knuckles. One light touch of the controls, and the Zord swooped down to Earth, the g-forces slamming his head into the back of his seat. Tony whooped gleefully, as he and the other two closed in on California.

~oOo~

"I can hold him still, but not long," the Blue Monster Ranger gasped. He was kneeling hunched over against the wall. The Green Ranger looked on, glancing from Ranger to Ranger to the door the Angel lurked behind.

Rachel and Kaiden drew their Power Weapons, as the lights began to flicker. Kaiden hit the door button, and it slid back to reveal a dark room. The Rangers' helmet lights caught the Angel's stone robe and raised wings. It stood facing the door, one arm outstretched and face human-looking.

"Ready?" Kaiden asked, hefting his Power Axe.

"I guess," Rachel said. They turned off their helmet lights with simultaneous clicks. The only sound was Monster Blue's ragged breathing behind them.

"Geronimo!" Kaiden shouted, swinging his Power Axe and leaping into the room. There was a metallic clang, and Kaiden hit the wall with a burst of golden sparks. Rachel hit the floor, rolled over and stabbed upwards, but her sai tip grazed stone. She flipped the blade and swung back, and this time was rewarded as she felt it go in—though into what, Rachel couldn't tell.

There were two horrible screeches—one from the Angel, one from the Blue Ranger outside. There was an explosion of dust, and then the lights stopped flickering. Rachel sat up, as Kaiden sent a line of flame up to the ceiling to light up the room. She swiped dust off her visor, and took the Yellow Ranger's proffered hand.

"Joe! Joe!" The Green Ranger kept crying, trying to reach her teammate. The Blue Ranger lay on his side, unconscious. Rachel rolled him over on his back, revealing a trickle of blood running from his left eye, and scrabbled for the vial of tears she'd left on the table.

"Kaiden, get started after the others, I'll join you," she said. Nodding, Kaiden dashed downstairs. Rachel dripped one of the tears onto Joe's forehead, and waited until his eyes opened before following the Yellow Ranger.

On the way down, something rocked the station. Rachel fell against the wall, jolting her elbow, and wearily wondered what was happening _this_ time. Fischer's voice came on over the comm.

"Monster Yellow is attacking the station."

"Alone?" Rachel asked, pulling herself up.

"It looks that way," Fischer replied.

"I'm on my way out," Kaiden said.

"Right," Rachel said, as the doors opened. She supersped to the Dash Zord, and both Demi-Zords took off at once.

As the doors opened, a miniature sandstorm swept inside. It tinkled off the Demi-Zords' hulls and swept on through. Fischer quickly closed the doors.

"Huh?" Rachel said, turning back towards the inside. "She's going right past us."

"I think we've got a rescue attempt on our hands," Kaiden said grimly.

"I'll go to the other Zord Bay," Rachel said, landing the Demi-Zord and springing out. "It's their only other exit—they can't punch through the hull, it's reinforced and shielded."

"Right," Kaiden said.

"I'm tracking her," Fischer said. "I think—got her! Rangers, Monster Yellow is contained in a force field on the living quarters deck."

"I'm glad you're on our side," Kaiden laughed, exiting the Pride Zord. "Coming up."

He met Rachel in the elevator. The Pink Ranger looked as psyched as Kaiden felt.

"Three Monster Rangers captured, one converted, everybody's back from 1982, we've got the Black Ranger powers back—" Rachel began.

"And we took out a Weeping Angel all by ourselves," Kaiden finished. With mutual, unvoiced consent, the two did a fist bump. The elevator doors opened, and they went to confront the Yellow Monster Ranger.

She'd returned to humanoid form, and was facing the door, arms hanging at her sides. Heather was beside her, holding the still-unconscious Joe.

"Hey," Kaiden said, stopping inches away from the blue-glowing force field.

"I wasn't supposed to be here," the other Yellow Ranger said flatly. "If Marco finds out I disobeyed him to rescue my teammates, he'll probably kill me. He uses our morphers to teleport us—if I were anywhere but here, he could teleport me back. Even if he only got my morpher, he could break it and drain my life force. So I want to join you."

"Really?...That was quick," Kaiden said.

"To you," the Monster Ranger retorted.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Rachel asked, folding her arms.

"You have a telepath," the Yellow Monster Ranger said. "Ask him."

"He's busy," Rachel said.

"Then we'll have to go to him," the Monster Ranger said. Heather stood up.

"I've got an idea," she said.

~oOo~

It was midnight over the desolate-looking Hexagram Lake. Despite the new moon, the three Hyper Mode Zords lit up the entire place like floodlights. Silently, they dropped into the water and shot downwards towards the Hexagram. Now that he got a good look at it, Tony saw that the Hexagram's disc was nowhere near pure white—and scored and gashed from all their attacks.

James began hacking in with the chainsaw sword, Rex and Tony hovering behind him. Swinging around, the Typhoon Zord tossed the chainsaw sword to the Lagrange Zord, and dove through the slowly-closing hole.

Backing up a step, Tony whirled the chainsaw sword, and dove for the nearest of the Hexagram's spokes. In Hyper Mode, cutting through the metal tunnel was as easy as slicing bread. Bubbles shot out of the gap, and the metal tore away with a shriek and spurt of electricity.

Then, Tony glimpsed something out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he just had time to see the powered-up Purple Monster Ranger barreling towards him before it hit. He was slammed upwards, exploding out of the water, and then the Zord shoved him away and peppered him with lasers from his enormous gun.

Tony threw up his shields as quickly as he could, but the first few lasers got through, and he winced as little explosions ripped holes in the Lagrange Zord's hull. Tony darted out of range, up above the treetops.

"Fine, I can handle this. Shield Bits!" He called.

The little metal pieces shot out of their places and towards the evil Zord. He shot up into the sky, vanishing into the dark.

Rex's voice came over the comm. "Tony? What's going on up there?"

"Marco's out and about. Don't worry, I think I can handle it," Tony said, as the Shield Bits swarmed around, looking for the Purple Ranger. "Probably."

~oOo~

Trivia: Weirdly enough, in several of the many rewrites of the climax, the Demi-Zords ripped the main disc of the Hexagram off its base and set it on the ground. Also there was a very brief game of Marco Polo.


	23. Chapter 23: All Out War

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or Doctor Who.

~oOo~

Rachel and Kaiden sat in their Demi-Zords, listening to Fischer over their comm units. The Monster Rangers, morphed and Zord-sized, stood at attention nearby—and both teams kept casting nervous glances at each other.

"We're nearly there," the hunchback said. "Be ready."

"Are you sure about this?" Kaiden asked, again.

"No, but it seems like a good plan—and if the worst comes to the worst, the other Stellar Rangers are already there to back you up," Fischer replied calmly. "But I did know Layla fairly well, and she's sincere."

"You're awfully suspicious," Rachel said to Kaiden.

"Well, these people have beaten us to a pulp several times now," Kaiden pointed out. "I don't think I'm being paranoid here."

"Paranoid people never do, but you have a point," Rachel said. She fiddled with a lever nervously. "Are you really sure I can do Hyper Mode? I've barely even flown the Dash Zord for weeks now."

"You'll be fine, just relax," Kaiden assured her. Rachel heard the engines quiet down, and breathed deeply, trying to smother the stomach butterflies with oxygen.

"Time," Fischer said, as the Zord Bay doors slid open.

"Here goes nothing. Hyper Mode!" Rachel shouted, rising into the air. She zipped out the doors with a streak of golden light, and whooped as she shot straight down towards the water. What had she worried about, this was great! Like a roller coaster, only she was in control and could go wherever she wanted.

"Hyper Mode!" Kaiden shouted, shooting after her. The Monster Rangers followed, fast but not nearly in Hyper Mode league, and they all dropped into the water. Their weapons materialized in their hands with flashes of lightning, and Rachel turned on her microphone.

"Rex? James? It'd be good to know what your plan was right about now," she said. "Oh, and we've got some new allies, if that helps."

"UN Demi-Zords?" Rex guessed.

"Converted Monster Rangers," Rachel replied with a grin. "What do we do?"

"Help Tony catch Marco," Rex ordered. The Zords spread out across the lake. Rex must have explained to Tony, because the Lagrange Zord didn't start shooting at the Monster Rangers.

The six Zords zigzagged across the Hexagram Lake up, down, in every direction as quickly as they could, but found nothing. The sky was empty.

"He isn't here—can James try to scan for him?" Kaiden asked.

"Working on it," James said. "You're all going to feel a little weird for a sec; I'm scanning every sentient brain in the area."

The hairs on the back of Rachel's neck and arms prickled, and for a second she was seeing herself from the outside. She just had time to wonder what the back of her head would look like without a helmet, then it was gone and James was talking again. "He's gone inside."

"Okay, everyone down," Rex ordered, and all of the Zords dove into the water. Well, all but one.

"I can't," Monster Yellow said, hovering just above the surface. Rachel paused, and resurfaced with a splash. The others continued towards the Hexagram.

"What does that mean, you can't?" Rachel asked.

"Swim. I can't swim," Layla replied, audibly embarrassed. "I've only ever teleported in or out of the Hexagram." Rachel flew up beside her, and flicked off Hyper Mode. The Monster Rangers couldn't keep up with it, anyway.

"Hey, you're morphed, it's not like you can drown or anything. In Zord form it's just like flying, only with more resistance. Come on," Rachel said. The two Zords made their way down into the water, and towards the Hexagram disc. Rachel swam just ahead of Layla, right through the ever-widening hole the others had used to get inside. The compartment was flooding, but only Rex and Kaiden were still there—the others had already gone to look for Marco, leaving their Zords behind.

Rex sliced through the inside wall, picked it up and held it against the hole. The water spurted, shrank to a spray, and then a trickle as Kaiden blasted the edges with flame. The metal sealed, and the Bolt Zord let go. The air was hot and steamy, and Rachel's hatch fogged up.

"We're all in. Has anyone found him yet?" Rex asked into his communicator.

"Rex, Heather's vanished," James said. Layla shrank down to human size. Rex, Kaiden and Rachel were climbing out of their Zords, but the Red Ranger paused.

"What?"

"One minute she was there—actually just a hallway away from Marco—and then the next I can't reach her mind anymore, but Monster Black's there now. He—oh. Ivan Ooze is possessing her. Now Marco's there and _wow_ is he scared," James said. "He's running. They're bringing Monster Black along."

"Show me where they are," Rex demanded, dropping to the floor. The other three followed him out and down the hall. Splashing through the calf-deep water that had accompanied their entrances, the four Rangers looped through the Hexagram. James must have been transmitting right to Rex, because he never hesitated in their run through the mazelike hallways.

Dropping, he ripped a trapdoor open, and leaped through with a shower of water. Charlie, James, Tony and Joe nearly ran into him as he stepped out of the way for the others. James's eyes blazed blue, and he gestured to a closed door just down the hall, as Rachel landed with a splash.

"Got it," Rex said, heading for the door. Layla dropped in almost silently, Kaiden less so. "Give me some room, guys." Accordingly, the other Rangers stayed back, as he slid his fingers into the crack where the door opened. Hands glowing red, he tore the door open with a screech of metal and threw it into the wall with a clang. The Rangers all poured into the room.

Marco and Heather were standing in front of a blinding white light, which after a moment resolved itself into a glowing arm-length crack in the wall. It was flanked by a pair of thrumming pillars, which had been opened up to expose panels of blinking circuitry. The Black Monster Ranger, unmorphed, slumped in the corner, bleeding from his temple. Marco seized him by the elbow and dragged him to his feet, keeping one hand on his throat.

"Hold it," Heather said, placing a hand on a cluster of exposed wires in the pillar. The Rangers stopped, and spread out in a line. Water flowed into the room, and evaporated with a hiss as it reached the crack. Heather looked physically normal, but she carried herself differently, and there was a sneer on her face.

"That," Heather gestured to the crack, "Is a rip in the skin of the universe, and it really, really wants to devour a chunk of matter about the size of this very base. The only things holding it shut are these lovely stabilizers," she tapped one of the pillars, smirking. "Do you want to see what happens if I sabotage one?"

The Rangers exchanged glances. Rachel wondered if she could zip over and rip Heather away without tearing the wires apart. From the death grip the Green Ranger had, it didn't look likely. The air crackled with electricity, and steam began to curl away from the crack. A hum almost too high to hear emanated from the rip.

Rex spoke up. "Won't you get fried if you rip out a bunch of wires like that?"

Heather shrugged. "I'll take over someone else's body if this one gets destroyed. Now, everyone, out. After all, Marco's just trying to get home here."

"You're bluffing," Rex replied. "That much electricity would destroy you too, Ivan."

"Since when are we on a first-name basis?" Heather retorted. Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel noticed a blue glow from James's direction. Rex was stalling for time, then. Okay, let's help, then, Rachel thought.

"What are you going to do? Go through the crack yourself?" Rachel asked. Heather rolled her eyes.

"It's unstable," Heather replied. "And I'm nowhere near as desperate as that guy," she jerked a thumb towards Marco, who kept glancing from the Rangers to the crack. The Black Monster Ranger was watching Heather, though he looked pale and dizzy. Now that Rachel was paying attention, she noticed that his eyes weren't yellow anymore, but a normal-looking blue. Huh.

Then Heather's eyes glowed blue-violet, and she dropped to her knees with a tremendous, shuddering gasp. Heather shook her head, and looked up at the cluster of Rangers. It was clear that she was back in the driver's seat.

"Shoot me," she said thickly. "He'll run, you can chase him, Elandra brings me back."

Almost before Rachel had realized what Heather was saying, the Red Monster Ranger raised his crossbow and fired. The red laser hit the Green Ranger right in the chest, and she swayed. The light in her eyes snapped fully purple.

"Curses!" Ivan choked with her voice, and Heather crumpled flat on her back. Purple ooze drew out of her body and coalesced into Ivan Ooze's original form. He was furious. He began shooting violet lightning at the Rangers, who attacked.

Rachel zipped around him in a circle, slashing at him with her Mercurial Sais. Tony caught each purple bolt with a green flash, and they fizzled harmlessly off his shielding. Swinging her meteor hammer, Layla snared Ivan's arm and dragged him off-balance, right into Rex and Joe's swords.

Ivan Ooze twisted aside in the nick of time, and the weapons slashed off most of his high collar. Kaiden blasted flame at the morphological being, and he collapsed into ooze again to avoid it. Tony stabbed at the mass with his lance, but it parted around the point and oozed right into a ventilation shaft.

Then there was a thunderous crack, and the Rangers whirled around to see Marco flung flat on his back from the glowing crack. He raised a shaking hand, and it began to collapse into grey dust. Rachel stifled a shriek. The crack widened, and one of the stabilizers began to bend towards it.

"Never mind Ooze, this could well do our job for us," Rex said. "Charlie, Joe, Layla, get your teammates and Elandra out. Everyone else, Demi-Zords, now!" The Stellar Rangers darted out, and began backtracking as quickly as they could to the Zords.

All the way, Rachel heard metal ripping, and felt the crack's energy thrumming beneath her feet. She pushed herself faster, slipped on the wet metal and turned the fall into a roll at the last second. Kaiden caught her hand and pulled her back up, and then they were in the storage room with their Zords.

"Tony, James, you there yet?" Rex asked, slipping into his cockpit.

"Almost," James replied over the communicator.

"Charlie?" Rex asked.

"We're all together. Marco's dead, and the entire Hexagram is collapsing in on the crack," the other Red Ranger said. Incredulously, Rachel interrupted, but Rex cut her off.

"Okay," Rex said. "On the count of three, break out. Monster Rangers, grow. Ready?"

"Not really," James said.

"Not the time, James," Rex retorted. "One, two, three!"

The Zords swung around and fired their various weapons at the roof. White water exploded into the Hexagram, and the Zords tore up through the holes. Rachel winced at the loud scraping noises as she forced her way out—and then she was in the muffled water. It was incredibly dark outside, and her eyes took a while to adjust.

She could see the flashes and columns of bubbles dotted across the Hexagram, and hear the dull rumbles that accompanied each blast. Rex and Kaiden hovered beside her. There were Tony and James, off to the side. One, two, three, four Monster Rangers—the Black one was so hard to see!

The Zords all rose to the surface, as the entire Hexagram shuddered. It began to crumple in on itself, like a cheap tin can. There were flashes of electricity, and the white light shot through its holes. Rachel paused just below the surface, and watched the entire villain base implode. The crack blazed out once, blindingly, and then it sealed.

Rachel surfaced with a fountain of water, and flew towards the cliff. It was still nearly pitch-black, but she could see flashes of light from there. Rachel touched down and sprang out of the Dash Zord, darting through the maze of giant robots to where the others were gathering. She passed James messing with the Typhoon Zord.

Elandra, soaked to the bone, was seated on the ground. She looked noticeably larger around the middle than before, and was trying to breathe deeply. The now human-sized Monster Rangers were gathered around their Black and Green Rangers, who were locked in an embrace. Apparently, Elandra's tears had done the trick. Kaiden was next to her, and Tony watched the Monster Rangers warily. Rex spun around and grabbed Rachel by the shoulder. She squeaked, startled.

"You're the fastest, get her to the hospital," Rex ordered.

"Hospital? What—but it's way too early!" Rachel protested, looking at Elandra in alarm.

"No. Cheated," Elandra gasped. "Injured, went into labor, now it's too late to stop." Rachel darted to her side and tried to help the Orange Ranger up, mind still reeling. Elandra's knees buckled and she nearly fell, but Rex caught her. Arms glowing red, he picked her up and carried her to the Dash Zord.

Rachel climbed inside, and with a feeling of déjà vu, helped Rex arrange Elandra on her lap. The Orange Ranger was seated sideways, one arm around the back of Rachel's chair. Rex jumped off, and Elandra closed the hatch. Reaching around the Orange Ranger, leaning forward to see, Rachel restarted the Dash Zord, and Elandra's grip tightened as she had another contraction. Okay, not likely to have a repeat of what had happened to Fischer, but—

"Um, how likely is it you'll have the baby in the Zord?" She asked, as they took off.

"Forty percent," Elandra said tightly. "And no Hyper Mode—not safe."

"Right," Rachel said, and they zoomed away.

The night was calm and cool, though very dark. Rachel headed for the twinkle of city lights in the distance. Elandra's contraction passed, and she relaxed. Rachel's clothes grew damp from the soaked Orange Ranger. In the silence, Rachel finally had a chance for all of the night's events to sink in. Her eyes widened.

"Hey, did we just win?" She asked. "I mean for real, big final battle?" Elandra raised her eyebrows.

"Monster Rangers converted, Marco gone, Hexagram destroyed, Ivan Ooze missing presumed dead—so, yes," she said, ticking the items off on her fingers. Rachel let out an incredulous laugh. The outside lights grew brighter.

"I-it's over!" She cried. "We did it! No Weeping Angels, no Alchemist!" Soon Rachel picked out the hospital-it was one of the biggest buildings in the residential district. "Almost there," she told the Orange Ranger.

She touched down in the parking lot, just as Elandra had another contraction. Opening the hatch, Elandra let Rachel slip out from under her. The Pink Ranger leaped out of the Demi-Zord and ran to the Emergency Room outlet, yelling for someone to come help her. Panting, Elandra reached over and pushed the communicator.

"Rex?" She said.

"I'm receiving you, Elandra," Rex said. "We still haven't found any sign of Ivan Ooze."

"You probably won't. Everyone back to the Satellite Base, mission complete," Elandra said.

"I think we should keep looking," Rex replied, but Elandra cut him off.

"You'll only find something if he didn't get sucked into the crack or escape by now. We'll know if he rears his head again. Mission objective is fulfilled, you can go rest now," she said.

"Yes, ma'am," Rex said. "Over and out." Elandra flicked off the communicator and sat back, panting. She could hear Rachel coming back with the paramedics.

~oOo~

Trivia: This is my only fanfic (so far) to have an exact, detailed timeline, thanks to Elandra's pregnancy. The first chapter's events occurred on March 5th, 2011, and this is July 2nd of the same year.


	24. Chapter 24: Separate Ways

Disclaimer: Power Rangers = Saban's. Star Trek: the Wrath of Khan = Paramount's. Why am I disclaiming that?

…I can't explain how it happened, it just did.

~oOo~

"James?" It was Kaiden, standing behind James in the battered Rec Room. The Blue Ranger turned around and frowned at his teammate.

"What?"

Kaiden folded his hands. "Er, you remember that Weeping Angel Rachel and I took care of? It came out of your laptop. And—"

Eyes wide, James darted into his quarters and to the silent laptop. He hit the power button, plugged and unplugged it, even flipped it over and began dissecting it.

"I thought I should warn you," Kaiden finished awkwardly. James looked up, with an expression appropriate for someone who'd just discovered their goldfish doing the back stroke. Feeling distinctly silly, Kaiden clapped James comfortingly on the shoulder.

Silently, the Blue Ranger began putting the laptop back together, and zipped it up in its case.

"You backed it up, right?" Kaiden asked. "Did we lose anything important?"

"Of course I did," James said, setting the laptop on the table. He reached under the bed, and pulled out a duffel bag.

"What are you doing?" Kaiden asked.

"Packing. We're not going to stay up here for much longer," James said, glancing at the Yellow Ranger. "I want time to make sure I'm not forgetting anything."

"Oh. I hadn't thought about that, but yeah, we're done, aren't we?" Kaiden said.

"Yep," James replied, shoving a fistful of shirts into his duffel. Kaiden leaned against the doorpost, and looked around the room.

"What are you going to do now?" He asked.

"Go back to Area 51, probably," James said. "Who knows, maybe they'll assign me to help with Zeuth."

"Zeuth?" Kaiden asked, folding his arms. James turned and stared at him.

"You mean you never bothered to ask Rex what he named the Demi-Zord force he gave the UN?" He asked.

"No, I've been a bit preoccupied," Kaiden replied cheerily. "But thanks." Rolling his eyes, James went back to packing.

"By normal conversation rules, I'm supposed to ask you what you're going to do next, right?" He asked, unzipping an inside pocket and digging through it.

"Yeah, usually. I'm thinking of starting a teen center in Angel Grove. There was one in LA that helped me get back on my feet after I ran away from home, run by a lady named Anne Steele. Think maybe I'll go visit her first," Kaiden said thoughtfully, looking out the window. The Satellite Base was hovering over daylit Africa.

"How about your Ranger sister?" James asked, pulling out some of the clothes and folding it so it would fit.

"I've been trying to write to her about this whole thing, but I keep hitting writer's block. I think I'll just show up there and we can talk," Kaiden said.

"Well, that's one thing you're good at," James said. Kaiden grinned.

"Do you ever make non-sarcastic jokes?" He asked.

"Yes, I also do pranks," James said, zipping up his duffel.

"You mean like crashing peoples' emails?" Kaiden asked suspiciously, glaring out from under his eyebrows at James.

"Sometimes," James replied innocently.

"What was your best?" Kaiden asked, unfolding his arms. James paused. "Come on, you must have done something good that wasn't top-secret," Kaiden coaxed. A grin spread across James's face.

"Last April Fool's Day I—" James cracked up, and took a moment to regain control. "I rigged Google to search 'I'm an Aardvark' for everything."

"You're kidding. All of Google?" Kaiden asked. James nodded, and Kaiden burst out laughing.

After it died back down to chuckling, James's smile faded, and he furrowed his brow. "Nobody else thought it was funny then, though." He sat down on the bed slowly, twisting the duffel bag strap around his hand, and looking at the computer case again.

"Well, government agents aren't known for their sense of humor," Kaiden said.

"No," James said, and smirked a little. "They always had such classic reactions, though." Seizing the opportunity, Kaiden pulled over the computer chair and sat down.

"Spill," he demanded. He followed James's glance to the dead laptop, picked it up and set it behind himself, where James couldn't see it. "Seriously, I'm tired of competing with this thing for your attention. Now, what did you do?"

~oOo~

**One Week Later**

Rachel's ship drew down to the desert plateau. Looking around, she spotted what might have been a cloaked person or a rock, she was too high up to tell. She brought the ship down gently, and the landing gear activated with a hiss.

Rachel sat in the ship for a minute, closed her eyes and just breathed. Then she opened the hatch and sprang out, squinting in the desert sunlight. There was a rustle of heavy fabric, and Rachel whirled around to see someone standing on a stony shelf. It was a woman, and she dropped to the ground across from Rachel. She removed her hood, revealing loose blonde curls.

The newcomer looked only a little older than Rachel herself, except around the eyes. She'd seen thousands of years go by—and by the way she gripped her staff, spent a good portion of them on martial arts. Rachel turned to face her fully, biting her lip.

"Where did you get that ship, and who are you?" The woman asked. Funny, that sounded kind of like an Australian accent. Rachel took a second to register the questions.

"I-I've always had it—I was found with it. I'm Kaelan," she stammered. The woman took a step closer. Her face was unreadable. Gaining confidence, Rachel pressed onwards. "You're Dulcea—you guard this planet. You know I wouldn't be able to drive that ship if it wasn't mine. My parents—Valera and Eseus—sent me away from here thousands of years ago because of the war, and I only landed on Earth twenty years ago."

Dulcea was now standing eye-to-eye with Rachel, and inside, the Pink Ranger wondered exactly how long it would take the other Phaedosian to flatten her into the rock. Ten seconds?

"I had thought all of our children had been discovered and grown up long ago," Dulcea said softly. "Very few ever returned. Why did you?"

"I want to know more about my heritage. Plus, I need some help with the whole shapeshifting thing," Rachel said, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards. "I can't control it at all yet. Besides, I figured we've both got a lot to talk about." She held up her hand, and the Power Ring glinted on her finger.

"That we may. Come," Dulcea said, turning. Rachel stared around at Phaedos. It was wild, windy and craggy, and she could hear waves crashing nearby. She brushed her hair, already escaping its bun, out of her face. It didn't look very much like Phoenix, Arizona, but it still felt peculiarly home-ish. Was that a word? Whatever, she had more important things to think about now. Rachel began following Dulcea.

~oOo~

Elandra rested River Merrick against her shoulder and patted the baby's back. Thanks to a lot of meddling with her Power Ring, River had been born full-term; though still preemie-sized at three pounds, sixteen inches—well, forty point six centimeters to Rex. Elandra had thought she'd heard some comparison to an old, wrinkly tomato from James's direction, but had ignored it.

It was the middle of the night, and now that River had been fed, everything was still. Well, almost. There was a soft shuffle coming from across the Rec Room, so quiet it would never have been heard during the day.

River burped, and Elandra walked out to investigate the other noise. Aha, Tony's light was on—and his door slid open. He was still dressed, and had his index finger stuck in a book to mark his place. The Satellite Base's engines hummed more strongly, making the floor vibrate.

"Can't sleep?" Elandra hissed. Tony nodded, with a wry smile.

"Peace Corps still haven't responded," he whispered.

"They will. Getting some studying in?" Elandra asked, nodding to the book. Tony glanced at it.

"Not exactly," he replied, and held it up so Elandra could see. It was the sequel to _The Baron's Betrayal_,_ The Viscount's Vengeance_. She raised her eyebrows.

"I read the original. Not bad," she said, shifting River on her shoulder. The baby was already falling asleep again. "Now that I've got time, maybe I'll check it out."

"You can borrow it," Tony offered. Elandra grinned.

"I'm going home to KO-35 tomorrow, remember? The postage would be a nightmare."

"Right," Tony said. His smile faded. "It doesn't feel real yet, the fight being over."

"I know," Elandra said. "It won't for a long time, or so I've heard." Tony nodded.

"What time are you going?" He asked.

"Oh-nine-hundred hours," Elandra replied. "Probably on the dot."

"In case I don't see you again, goodbye, good luck, and thanks," Tony said.

"Goodbye, have fun and keep saving the world," Elandra replied with a smile. River burped again. "Excuse him."

~oOo~

"We are here today to pay final respects to our honored dead technology. But it should be noted that this death takes place in the shadow of new life, the sunrise of a new, Weeping Angel and Alchemist-free world; a world that this beloved laptop gave his hardware to protect and nourish. Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the systems I have encountered in my hacking career, his was the most...compatible," James said quietly.

He was alone in the Zord Bay; somehow, nobody else seemed able to take the idea of holding a funeral for his laptop seriously. Therefore he'd locked them all out. Well, Rachel had already left for Phaedos, but everyone else was locked out.

James put the laptop inside one of the Typhoon Zord's missiles, which he'd gutted and rewired for the purpose. Loading it, he climbed into the Demi-Zord and flew out into space. He hit the red button, and the missile shot out into space. James had timed the shot just right; the missile flew right into the sunrise peeking around the Earth. It flared up as it hit the atmosphere and disintegrated.

Rex's voice came over the radio. "James? You need to get back into the Base now; we're heading for the rendezvous point."

"Coming," James said, turning the Typhoon Zord around.

Inside the Base, James headed straight for the command center. He passed a couple of his teammates, frantically helping secure everything for the flight. Rex was in the command center with Fischer, throwing levers and typing on computers. James slipped into a chair and went right to work alongside them.

"Hey, where are my shoes?" Tony yelled up the elevator shaft.

"Which ones?" Rex yelled back, pushing a quick sequence in a multicolored keypad.

"The basketball ones!"

"You left them in Engineering!" Kaiden shouted, leaning into the elevator shaft.

"Thanks!" Tony left.

"Do I even ask why and how you know that?" James asked, as Kaiden came into the room carrying a toolbox. Fischer gestured for him to leave it beside him, which he did.

"Not really, no," Kaiden said, leaving again.

"Ready yet?" Fischer asked Rex.

"Almost," he said. "James?"

"I'm done," the Blue Ranger said, hitting the "enter" key with a dramatic flourish and giving his chair a spin. "All files organized and ready for Zeuth."

"All Zords secured," Tony reported over the comm. "And Engineering's good to go."

"Kaiden? How's the Living Quarters deck?" Rex asked.

"Everything's ready here," the Yellow Ranger reported.

"Then we're set," Rex said. "Everyone to their positions. Five minutes." He flipped off the comm, and cracked his knuckles before buckling his seat belt.

"Ready," Fischer said, as he and James followed the Red Ranger's example.

"All hatches battened," Tony said, as he and Kaiden entered the command center. The Yellow Ranger dropped into a chair, using the momentum to spin around a few times before buckling up.

There was a silent moment, as it sank in that the mission was really and truly over. They weren't turning in their morphers, but Zeuth was taking the other technology unless it was needed again. They were also taking Rex and the Monster Rangers, who'd gladly accepted the Red Ranger's offer to serve there. Going by most Ranger history, they'd get called back into action some time in the next year, but…

"Can we go now?" James asked. Rex started a little, and shook his head.

"Yeah. Geronimo!" He said, and hit the button.

~oOo~

Trivia: The Baron's Betrayal was the book Mack was reading in the very beginning of Operation Overdrive. I made up the sequel, because I've already used the original over in Legion of Monsters.

A/N: If anybody here knows about Angel, yes, it's that Anne Steele. I'm not even entirely sure what that show _is_, but Rye Lee does, and he put it into Kaiden's backstory.

And…french the llama, this could qualify for NaNoWriMo! ANd that's another story done! Thanks to all of my reviewers, and especially WolfsbaneX, SSJ-Jolt, Gmoney22 and Rye Lee for giving me such cool people to play with! Exclamation points!


End file.
